The Last Black
by VintageMaverick
Summary: When Sirius Black was sent to Azkaban, he left his daughter Arra behind. Now, after growing up knowing nothing but the way of Slytherin, Arra is forced into the House of Gryffindor and the life of the famous Harry Potter. HP/OC DM/OC RW/HG
1. Prologue

October 31st 1981

Sirius Black paced through the halls of Grimmauld Place, wringing his hands anxiously and while constantly keeping one eye on the clock. He ran his hands through his shaggy hair and let out a deep breath as he finally flopped down on the stairs. The news of James' and Lily's murder not only left Sirius heartbroken, but also exposed a new dilemma which needed to be solved quickly.

The fact that Voldemort had finally been defeated did not mean that Sirius was out of danger yet. He knew that since James and Lily had been found, Peter Pettigrew, his good and loyal friend, had betrayed them all. The Ministry of Magic would soon be arriving to arrest Sirius for Wormtail's crime.

Sirius placed his face in his hands as he racked his brain for a possible solution.

Sh_ould I run? _he asked himself. _No, even I couldn't outrun them forever. Maybe I could fight them? Oh, even I'm not that powerful!_

A sudden cry from the other room yanked him back to reality as his head snapped up and he followed the cry to the sitting room. There, in the corner lay a crib with a baby girl who, up until now, was sleeping silently while Sirius pondered their future.

It didn't take the man long to reach the child as he carefully bent down to pick her up. He smiled at her even though she was bawling her eyes out. She was his angel, his darling, his world. And his daughter.

"Shhh baby, it's ok," he tried to calm her down as he gently bounced her. "Shhh, don't cry Arra".

Arra. Short for Ariana. Her mother, Sirius' wife, had died in labor shortly after she was born and was therefore, left without a name. Sirius, depressed and clueless, asked Albus Dumbledore to name her, and he did so. However, Sirius decided that Ariana was too long and elegant for someone so young and spunky so he decided to call her Arra.

She finally stopped crying and Sirius set her back down in the crib as he smiled down at her sadly. He knew that even if he managed to escape the Ministry's wrath, there would be no way he could continue to care for his daughter.

A loud thud from the outer side of the front door sent Sirius into a state of panic--he wasn't ready to fight yet! He looked lovingly at his daughter one last time before leaving. She looked so peaceful as she slept, without a care in the world. Not knowing that the events to immediately follow would change her life forever. Sirius shut the door to the sitting room to isolate her from the impending violence. He pressed his forehead to the door separating him from the love of his life as he closed his eyes and mentally said a goodbye.

Another loud bang from the front door reminded Sirius of why he was leaving Arra. His hands balled into fists and his face changed into a look of pure hatred as he turned around to face his opponents. He raised his wand as one last boom sent the front door into a thousand pieces and aurors flooded into the Noble house of Black. Sirius sent stunning spells in every directing he could as he dodged the jets of light coming his way. He flung himself behind a couch as a stunning spell narrowly missed him. The aurors then took their chance and swarmed him from all sides. But these ministry monkeys were gravely mistaken if they thought that Sirius Black would go down without a fight! In a last attempt to fight them off, Sirius jumped atop the couch and sent spells firing at every auror he could see. He laughed heartily as they fell to the ground and for a fleeting moment, he thought he was winning. The grin was wiped from his face however, when a red light hit him square in the chest and he slowly fell over.

His last thought before his vision faded to black consisted of one word…_Arra…_


	2. Stupid Gryffindors

**Author's Note: Hey everyone! Thanks to all who reviewed. ****J **

**Now since this is my story, I will be changing a few things in the Harry Potter universe. Nothing huge, just minor tweaks here and there so my story makes sense. For instance, Bellatrix Lestrange will not be in Azkaban at this time. Also, Bellatrix and Narcissa Malfoy aren't sisters, just friends. I'll try to warn you ahead of time of the changes so no one is confused. Now, enough chit-chat. I give you chapter 2!!**

**Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own Harry Potter. **

10 years later…

Arra Black lay stomach down on her bed examining her newly purchased wand. It was almost the end of the summer and she would soon be starting her new life at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and boy was she anxious. After her father was arrested 10 years ago, the Ministry of Magic sent her to live with her closest living relative--Bellatrix Lestrange.

Even though Arra knew that Aunt Bellatrix was a horrible person, her way of life was all the child knew.

"Arra!" Bellatrix screeched from downstairs. "Come down here now!"

Arra groaned as she rolled off her bed lazily and trudged down the stairs. When she entered the kitchen, the house elf Jinx was just setting dinner down for the two of them. Bellatrix didn't bother to thank the elf and rudely dismissed her from the room.

"Arra, tomorrow you will be going to Hogwarts, and there are a few things that I feel I should tell you just so you're prepared." the witch said in her all-knowing tone. Arra nodded and brushed a few pieces of her dark brown hair out of her face. Bellatrix continued, "First off, which house do you think you'll be sorted into?"

Arra scoffed. "Slytherin," she said as if it were a known fact. "It's in my blood." _Except for that Dumbledore worshipping, mudblood loving, Gryffindor father of mine, _she thought. Oh how she hated her father! He left her when she was just a baby and he was a horrible man who turned his back on his entire family. He didn't even care when his own brother was killed! Or at least that's what Bellatrix told her.

The former Death Eater smiled. "Good. Make friends with Slytherins only, I won't tolerate any mudbloods anywhere near you. Besides, it's absolutely certain that Draco will be sorted into Slytherin as well so the two of you are bound to have a good time."

After Arra was sent to live with Aunt Bellatrix, Draco Malfoy soon after became her best and only friend.

"Now it's inevitable that you will have to interact with mudbloods sometime or another during your time at school, so just pay them no attention and hopefully they'll leave you alone. They shouldn't be talking to you anyways--they're not worthy of speaking to someone as noble of blood as you." She said as she sliced her meat quite violently. Arra figured that she was picturing her steak as a muggle-born.

"Don't worry, I don't talk to them now, why would I talk to them then?" Arra said. Bellatrix smiled and the rest of the meal was finished in silence. Arra excused herself and summoned the house elf to take care of her mess.

She entered her room and walked over to her trunk to check one last time for everything she needed. She opened the trunk and was instantly greeted by numerous Slytherin memorabilia from her Aunt Bella and friends. She took out her Aunt's old scarf and draped it around her neck. Arra gazed at herself in the mirror and smiled. Her wavy dark brown hair and dark brown eyes went quite well with he silver and green. She was ecstatic to be going to Hogwarts and was even more excited about the prospect of being in Slytherin! It was by far the best house, even though everyone said Gryffindor was. Both her parents were Gryffindor alumni, and therefore, she wanted to be as far away from those stupid lion-hearted mudbloods as possible.

She glanced one more time at the clock and came to the conclusion that she should get some rest before the train ride tomorrow. She laid down and was almost instantly enveloped in a peaceful sleep.

* * *

The next morning happened so fast that it almost seemed unreal. Before she knew it, Arra was waving goodbye to Bellatrix as the Hogwarts sped away from the platform. When her aunt was no longer visible, Arra went in search of Draco. She found him in the farthest back compartment snickering with his stupid lackeys, Crabbe and Goyle.

Arra slid open the door and took the seat next to Draco and immediately became involved in the conversation.

"You don't really think he's coming to Hogwarts, do you Malfoy?" Crabbe grunted with utmost interest.

"How am I supposed to know?" Draco answered rudely. "But if he is, he's bound to be in Slytherin with us. I mean, he took down the Dark Lord! He's got to have awesome Slytherin quality to pull off something like that." The blonde boy finished with a nod of his head. Crabbe and Goyle obediently agreed and nodded their fat heads as well.

"Who?" Arra asked.

Draco looked at her with disbelief. "Harry Potter, that's who!" Arra rolled her eyes and let them finish praising the 'all powerful Potter'. She didn't even know him and she hated him--he was the reason her life pretty much sucked. If he would have just died when the Dark Lord tried to finish him off, then her father wouldn't be in Azkaban and life would be different.

After a full 10 minutes of Malfoy's Potter-mania, Arra decided to go for a walk. Suddenly she heard a croaking sound and looked down at her feet. There lay a toad. She frowned at the animal as she looked around in search of an owner. When she saw no one, she picked it up and opened the nearest compartment to see if it belonged to one of it's occupants. When she entered the small room she noticed two boys: one with bright red hair and freckles, and the other with jet black, messy hair and glasses.

"Does this toad belong to either of you?" she asked. They both shook their heads as Arra looked back and forth between them. "Oh, ok then." She was about to leave when she noticed all of their sweets they had bought from the trolley. She eyed them hungrily and apparently the boy with black hair noticed.

"Your welcome to join us" he said and Arra gladly accepted and grabbed a chocolate frog card as she sat down next to the red haired boy.

"Ron Weasley," he said as he offered Arra a handshake. Arra stared at him for a second before returning the gesture. Her aunt had told her about the Weasleys before but this one didn't seem so bad, so she didn't immediately pass judgment. "Arra Black".

The other boy then introduced himself as Arra placed a pumpkin pasty in her mouth. "Hi, I'm Harry Potter." As soon as he said his name, Arra immediately was overcome with a coughing fit and accidentally spewed crumbs all over the two boys.

She caught her breath from her uncontrollable coughing and looked at the black haired boy with huge eyes. "_You're _Harry Potter?!?!"

"Yes…?" He said obviously confused. "Is that a problem?"

"Actually yes it is," came a drawling voice from the doorway as Arra looked up to see Malfoy standing there with Crabbe and Goyle behind him. Arra immediately stood up and went to stand at Draco's side.

"The name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, and no doubt you must be Harry Potter" Malfoy said as he sized Harry up. A small cough was heard from Ron as Malfoy turned his attention. "No need to ask who you are. Red hair, freckles, and a hand-me-down robe, you must be a Weasley" he filled the last word of the sentence with disgust. Ron looked ready to kill and Arra snickered at his angry face. Malfoy turned back to Harry, "You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there." he said as he held out his hand.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," Harry said as he crossed his arms.

Malfoy's smile immediately faltered as he scowled. Arra looked incredulously at Potter. How dare he refuse the friendship of people like her and Malfoy?! Arra's preconceived notions were obviously right--this boy had no right to speak to them like that, and neither did his blood traitor friend.

The four returned to their own compartment and were soon at Hogwarts where they were all sorted into Slytherin. And lucky for Arra, both Harry and Ron were both sent to Gryffindor.

After being shown where the common room was, Arra went to bed and fell asleep to prepare herself for her first official day as a Slytherin.

**Author's Note: Now I know not very much exciting happened in this chapter but that's just because this chapter was the introduction to Arra's life. I promise within the next chapter something quite interesting will be happening! Just bear with me.**

**Thanks to all who reviewed!**


	3. From Cunning to Courageous

**Disclamier: I don't own Harry Potter**

Arra awoke the next morning and soon joined Malfoy and the others as they walked up to the Great Hall for breakfast. When they arrived, Professor Snape was already handing out schedules to the Slytherin table. Arra received her schedule and groaned loudly when she saw who she would have potions and transfiguration with that day--Gryffindors. They all soon finished their breakfast and took the long walk down to the dungeons for their first lesson of the day. Arra and Draco sat together and she noticed that Ron and Harry had also sat together.

Professor Snape entered and all of the chatter immediately stopped as he began to explain the art of potions as if it were the most important thing in the world. Suddenly he began to bombard Harry with questions:

"Potter! What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Arra and her friends turned around to look at Potter as he looked surprised to be asked such a question. Arra had to hold her breath to keep from laughing at a girl with bushy brown hair and huge front teeth who was bouncing up and down in her seat like a jumping bean. Arra thought she strongly resembled a beaver.

Snape continued to ask Harry questions that he didn't know the answer to and the beaver girl continued to wave her hand like she was flagging down the coast guard. Eventually, they were paired off and began to work on a simple boil curing potion. Malfoy was paired with Pansy Parkinson, Harry with Ron, and Arra with the beaver, who _never_ stopped talking!

"This potion should be easy enough, I read all about it already in my potions book, actually I read all of our books so I pretty much know all of everything we need to know. I wanted to be ready for our exams in December ahead of time so I won't have to study like a mad woman weeks ahead of time!" Hermione Granger (_so the beaver has a name_) said quickly as Arra groaned at her partner. Malfoy heard her growl and turned around to give Hermione a dirty look. Hermione noticed his look of disgust and started on another rant to Arra.

"You see that boy there?" She said pointing at Malfoy. "Ron and Harry told me all about him. His name is Draco Malfoy, and he's so rude! Do you know him?"

"Yes," Arra said curtly. "He happens to be my best friend," she said as she fully turned her body to Hermione as if to intimidate her and physically daring her to say more about Draco.

Hermione looked shocked. "H-h-how could you be friends with someone like him? The way he treats people is disgusting, especially muggle borns."

Arra then began to laugh heartily and said, "Because he's right! Those damn mudbloods don't deserve to be here. Magic should not be wasted on such idiots."

Hermione looked on the verge of tears. "But…I'm a muggle born…" she said quietly. Arra looked at her with a face of pure hatred. "I-I-I thought we could be friends" Hermione said looking at the ground.

Arra let out one laugh full of pity for the beaver and moved her face as close to Hermione's as possible. "I would never be friends with a mudblood like you" she snarled fiercely. A loud bang from Neville Longbottom's cauldron caused the two girls to jump apart. Hermione sniffled and Arra could tell she was crying, and the Slytherin girl snickered at her.

Snape yelled at Neville for incorrectly mixing the potion and soon dismissed the entire class and issued Neville detention. Transfiguration was their next class and when they arrived Arra told her story about Hermione to Draco and the other Slytherins. They all laughed loudly when Hermione came in and she immediately knew they were talking about her. Harry and Ron knew as well because they had seen how mean Arra was to her.

Professor McGonagall gave them all matches and showed them how to turn it into a needle. She walked around the room to observe them and Arra and Draco began to talk again. They had both already finished the task as their guardians showed them numerous spells already at home. Draco looked over at Weasley and Potter and laughed at their struggling faces before getting a brilliant idea. He pointed his wand at the needle and muttered "Wingardium Leviosa!" He levitated the needle past McGonagall, who didn't notice and soon positioned the needle next to an unsuspecting Weasley, and poked him hard in the side.

"Ouch!" He shouted as he looked around in search of the culprit. Arra and Draco could hardly contain their laughter as once again they jabbed him, this time in the back. The red head looked around frantically and soon Harry was soon helping him look. The two Slytherins were turning blue while trying not to laugh. Draco positioned the needle again and took aim, this time stabbing Ron's hand hard enough to draw blood. He wailed when he felt the pain and threw his hand back away from the imaginary weapon. He wasn't watching where his hand was as he bumped into Harry who was about to perform his spell. Harry was knocked over as red sparks flew from his wand and straight over to where Arra and Draco were sitting. They ducked just in time as McGonagall turned around.

Arra, now infuriated, jumped atop the desk and pointed her wand at Harry, "What are you playing at?!" She roared as Harry also stood on the desk to defend himself.

"I didn't do anything!" He fought back. "Ron accidentally hit me because something was poking him!"

"Oh, a likely story!" Arra said as Draco tried to hold his laughter in. Harry must have noticed Draco because he then pointed an accusing finger at Arra.

"It was you! You were poking him! You made me do that!" He yelled as he raised his wand as well.

"ENOUGH!" Thundered McGonagall. "Black, Potter! Report to the Headmaster's Office immediately!"

Arra and Harry glared at each other as they left the classroom together and walked in silence to Dumbledore's office. Harry recited the password (_cauldron cakes _Professor McGonagall told them) to the Gargoyle and it sprang to life and moved aside to show them the way to the Headmaster's office. They warily walked forward as Arra slowly raised her hand to knock. Dumbledore's voice could be heard from the other side of the door which allowed them to enter the room.

Arra walked inside the room and gasped at it's greatness. She craned her head around to look at all of the portraits of former headmasters, including her great-great-great-grandfather Phineas Nigellus. She noticed behind Dumbledore's desk, an old phoenix was sitting on a perch; she was surprised because she had never seen one of these great birds up close before. A small cough caused her to stop exploring the office and her eyes were drawn to Dumbledore. His long white hair and beard came down to his waist and his bright blue eyes were soft behind his half-moon spectacles. And oddest of all about this old man was that he was smiling. Arra thought maybe this muggle loving old man took pleasure in punishing students.

He gestured to the two chairs positioned before his desk and Arra and Harry took their seats.

"Professor McGonagall has told me about your row in her classroom today. I must warn you that such disagreements in class are strictly prohibited, especially for first years who have no knowledge of magic." He said looking between them. "Now if you would be so kind as to tell me what this was all about."

"Potter shot a red spell at me for no reason." Arra said confidently to Dumbledore.

"That's because she and Malfoy were poking Ron." Harry refuted.

"Even if we were, which we weren't," she lied, "that's no reason to attack me!"

"Yes, you were! And I didn't attack you on purpose, it was accidental!"

"Sure Potter, sure," she said and soon they were no longer even talking to Dumbledore, but just arguing with each other. In the midst of their yelling, Dumbledore placed his hand in the air and calmly said "That's enough".

Both students took the hint and turned their attention back to the headmaster. "It matters not who started this dispute between the two of you, what matters is how we're going to find a solution to it." Arra mentally prepared herself for a heaping dose of detention. Dumbledore continued, "However, I think that a simple regular punishment will rectify this one argument, but what about in the future?" He asked as Arra and Harry both looked at him with wide eyes. _What is this old kook talking about?_ "I first want to know, Harry, what is it that you don't like about Miss Black?"

"Well headmaster, she's rude to people who don't have equal blood status, or anyone who's not in Slytherin house. She doesn't care if she hurts their feelings either. I think she thinks it's actually fun," he added as an afterthought.

Dumbledore nodded his head as he asked the same question to Arra.

"Easy. He's in Gryffindor. He thinks he's a celebrity and that everyone should love him for taking down the Dark Lord," she now turned her head to Harry, "But I _don't._"

She looked back at the old man expecting to see his face full of fury for her blatant disrespect towards Gryffindors. She was surprised however, to find a clever smile across his face. He noticed her look of confusion and let out a soft chuckle. "I think I've come up with the perfect solution."

Arra was now officially scared of what was to come. The perfect punishment paired with a smile? This had to be bad.

"Miss Black, I am transferring you from the house of Slytherin, to Gryffindor," he said with a grin.

**Author's Note: See, I promised it would soon get interesting! Now I'm afraid I have some bad news, I will be leaving for vacation on thursday and will not have internet access. I will be able to write chapters though so I can update regularly when I return on July 20th****. I won't update if I don't have some reviews though! They motivate me, so keep 'em coming!**

**-Maverick.**


	4. Realization

**Thanks to all who have reviewed so far! I gladly welcome constructive criticism and suggestions, so don't be afraid to tell me. **

**By the way, Arra's name is pronounced like the letter 'R' and then 'uh'. Someone asked me and I just thought I would throw it in here for all of you. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. **

Arra stared incredulously at the old man. Her, a Gryffindor?! He was off his rocker if he thought she would stand for this.

"WHAT?!" She and Harry both screeched. Apparently he was just as outraged as she was. Arra continued, "You can't do this! Are you even allowed to do this?!" She asked as she flailed her arms around in exasperation.

Harry was shouting the same time as Arra, "She can't be in Gryffindor! The sorting hat put her in Slytherin! Her family is all from that house and she doesn't even have any Gryffindor like qualities! She's just like the rest of those pure-blood loving snakes."

Dumbledore then stood up as his smile vanished and he said sternly, "Stop yelling. Sit down and I shall explain."

Both students sat down at the headmasters sudden change in attitude. "To answer your questions Miss Black, while this type of punishment has never been used before, I am allowed to do this. Why, you ask? I'm the headmaster, I make my own rules." He smiled at her with a twinkle in his eye. Arra glared at him. "As for you Harry, while the sorting hat did place her in Slytherin, she still possesses some Gryffindor qualities. She has the nerve to stand up to me, and that to me displays bravery. Also, she has Gryffindor in her blood." Arra's eyes widened as she knew what he was going to say next. Harry, on the other hand, looked shocked. "Both of her parents were in Gryffindor and happened to be quite good friends with your own parents, Harry."

Harry was speechless and Arra had recently become very interested in the ceiling as she attempted to avoid eye contact with either of them. Dumbledore continued, "The point of this is to show you both that while Gryffindors and Slytherins have been sworn enemies in the past, you can overcome your differences and learn to accept one another as friends," he said. "And I trust you will do your best to prove me right." The last bit was added with a serious tone. "Miss Black, you will go back to the Slytherin dormitories and pack your things. When you arrive at the Gryffindor common room, you will be provided with new robes and a new schedule."

"And what if I don't go?" She asked fiercely.

"Then expulsion is the only choice I have. Although if neither of those options appeal to your liking, I'm sure the House of Hufflepuff would accept you as well," he said with a smile as Arra stood up to leave.

"Gryffindor will be fine, thanks." She growled through her teeth and left. She would rather be in Gryffindor than Hufflepuff. She'd rather be known for her bravery than her _loyalty, _she thought the last word with sarcasm.

Harry was left in the office completely bewildered by what had just happened. "Sir," he asked, "this is going to be impossible. There's no way she'll ever fit in our lives."

"Harry this is not a request, but an order. You will do your best to make sure she fits in with the Gryffindors, or the same punishment will go for you as well." Harry nodded his head. He didn't want to be expelled. He got up to leave as Dumbledore said, "And in my own personal opinion Harry, you have a long and adventurous journey ahead of you, and before the end of it," he looked up into Harry's eyes, "you _will_ need her."

***

Arra slammed the door to the common room as she entered to see an anxious Draco waiting on the couch for her. He immediately went to her as he could tell she was upset.

"What happened?" He asked seriously as he looked into her eyes.

She looked at him for a full 5 seconds before answering quietly, "He moved me to Gryffindor."

If Arra was mad when she heard the news, Malfoy's anger was 10 times worse. He placed his hands tightly on her shoulders and his face warped into complete and utter fury. "What?" He asked with a shaky voice as he was obviously trying to keep from blowing his temper.

Arra escaped his grasp and flopped down on the couch as she explained what had happened to her best friend. She looked at Draco once she finished and saw that he was breathing quite deeply attempting to stop his flaring anger. Finally he gave up and began to shout, "What do you mean he just transferred you? That's unheard of! He's obviously out to get you, why else would he do this? Anyways he won't get away with it. My father is on the school board of education and they're more powerful than that old crazy man!" He then sat down next to Arra and looked into her eyes. "I promise you. I will fix this."

Arra smiled at her friend's concern. "Draco," she said slowly, "even if your father does do something, he's only one part of the board. The rest would agree with Dumbledore. They're all about inner-house bonding and such." She stood up to begin packing.

"There has to be something we can do!"

She turned back around and gave Draco a hug as she whispered in his ear, "There's not."

***

Arra lugged her trunk across what felt like the entire length of Hogwarts before she finally reached the Gryffindor common room. She recited the password and slowly entered. _This is so unfair._ Obviously the Gryffindors thought so too. She looked around to see every last face in the room scowling at her. She ignored them and went up to her dormitory. Inside the room two girls were talking quickly and suddenly stopped when Arra entered. Arra looked up at them to notice two pairs of eyes looking at her with interest.

"Can I help you?" Arra asked tersely.

"Umm, I'm Lavender and this is Parvati and we were just wondering…" She trailed off as she noticed Arra who looked ready to throw them out a window.

"Whatever you were 'wondering'. Cut it out. I am not here to be buddies with you. Just stay out of my way and I won't shave your head in the middle of the night." Arra finished as the two girls scurried out of the room and away from her. As they left another girl entered--Hermione Granger. "Oh just fantastic!" Arra said sarcastically. "I get to room with the smartest mudblood in all of Hogwarts!" Arra clapped her hands together in fake excitement as Hermione walked past her and flopped onto her bed.

"Ok, look. Obviously your stuck here with us so you might as well get used to it. And I don't want to tell McGonagall that you've been being impolite to us or else you'll get detention." Hermione warned in all seriousness.

Arra laughed heartily at the girl and cracked up even harder when she saw Hermione's confused look. Hermione soon left after not being able to get an answer out of Arra. Soon, the ex-Slytherin had fallen asleep praying to God that when she woke up, it would all be a dream.

Much to her displeasure, though, no such miracle was going to occur.

Hermione's chirpy voice woke her up on Friday morning. She had lasted a week in Gryffindor and nobody had bothered her enough to curse, so in her opinion it wasn't that bad. After all, she did appreciate her time to herself. She rolled out of bed and walked over to the mirror, her roommates were silent as they were afraid she might curse them just for breathing. She examined herself in the mirror. Even in the early hours like these, Arra was undeniably beautiful. Her dark brown curled down to the middle of her back and her dark eyes gave her a mysterious, yet gorgeous look. Her skin was pale but the rosiness of her cheeks made her look not quite so…dead. She pulled on her robes and looked at herself in the full length mirror. Arra wasn't as skinny as Hermione, but she also wasn't overweight; she had curves and she liked it that way. She was also tall. Much taller than a lot of the girls she knew, but not as tall as most of the boys. It was this physique of hers that also added to her menacing nature. After frowning at her new Gryffindor robes consisting of crimson and gold, she headed down to the common room. When she entered, Harry was waiting and quickly walked over to her when he noticed.

"Hey." He said as Arra looked at him questioningly. "I was wondering if you might want to get some breakfast with me before flying lessons." Today was their first lesson with Madam Hooch.

"Why?"

"Because, Dumbledore says we have to get along, or we'll be expelled."

Arra laughed. "Potter if you want to hang out with me, you're going to have to get over the fear of being thrown out of school." Harry looked confused. "Let's just say, I'm not known for following the rules." She explained.

"Oh," he said as she continued to walk away. He quickly caught up with her. "Ok, Arra, I don't think you fully understand the pickle I'm in." She looked up at him with her eyebrows raised. "I _can not_ be expelled." He stressed to her as if trying to get her to understand Quantum Physics. "The place I live outside of here, it's hell."

"I heard you live with muggles."

"I do. I hate them."

"Oh well that's understandable," Arra said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Her muggle-hating nature working to Harry's advantage at this point.

"So…breakfast?" He asked hopefully.

She took a deep breath before looking at the black haired boy. "Look, I don't want to be here, and I know you don't want me to be here. So let's just make this as painless as possible: we're not friends, but we're not enemies" she proposed to him as a solution. "Sound good?"

"I don't think--"

"Good," she cut him off with a nod of her head as she turned and walked through the portrait hole. Harry looked after her baffled. He shook his head as if trying to figure out what had just happened.

Ron then joined Harry, "What the bloody hell were you doing talking to her? I mean I know Dumbledore says you have to get along but it's not like you have to worship the ground she walks on."

"I'm not worshipping her," Harry said in a defensive tone. "It's just something Dumbledore said to me that makes me feel like we're supposed to be friends or something."

Ron frowned and shook his head as they walked down to breakfast together.

***

After breakfast, Arra met Draco and the other Slytherins down at the Quidditch Pitch and the Gryffindors soon joined them. Harry sent Arra a friendly smile which she returned with a puzzled look. _Why was he being nice to her?_

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" Madam Hooch said briskly. "Stick out your right hand over your broom and say UP!"

After a few tries, Arra's broom met her hand in the air and after several more minutes, everyone else had gotten their brooms up as well. She told them all that they were to mount their brooms and rise into the air and then come right back down. But Neville was far to nervous and didn't want to be left on the ground alone while everyone else was flying, and he accidentally caused his broom to rise several feet above the ground. Madam Hooch yelled for him to come back but he was too scared to move so the broom just continued to escalate into the air, higher, and higher, and high--CRACK. Neville had slipped sideways off of his broom and fallen all the way to the ground.

"Broken wrist," Madam Hooch said as she helped Neville up. "Now I expect all of your feet to stay firmly on the ground or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch'".

As soon as Madam Hooch and Neville were out of site, Malfoy spotted Neville's remembrall sitting on the ground. Arra had seen Draco try to take it away from him at breakfast. He held it up for everyone else to see and all the Slytherins snickered. Arra couldn't help but join in.

"Give it here, Malfoy," Harry said quietly and Arra turned to give him a surprised look. He was standing up to Malfoy; that took guts.

"Hmmm, I think not," Draco said as he tossed it into the air and caught it again. "I think I'll leave it somewhere Longbottom can find it" he grabbed his broom and soon started to fly into the air, "how about up a tree?" Arra laughed as her best friend began to show off his broom riding skills. "Come and join me Potter!"

Harry grabbed his broom and was about to take off when the shrill voice of Hermione momentarily stopped him.

"Harry! If you go up there, you're going to get us all in trouble!" She warned.

"Oh put a sock in it, beaver!" Arra yelled at her as Ron was burst out with laughter at Hermione's nickname. Harry looked at Arra in surprise, not sure whether to thank her for shutting Hermione up, or to frown at her offensive remark. "Well?" She asked Harry. "Go on!" She said gesturing to the sky where Draco was waiting.

As Arra watched Harry fly up to get Neville's remembrall she noticed a few things. One, he really was a great person. He was willing to risk being sent back to his aunt and uncle's just to make sure Malfoy didn't do something mean to someone else. Two, he obviously wasn't scared of Malfoy, as most people were. This in itself was enough to make Arra smile. The only other person in Hogwarts who wasn't afraid of him was her. And three, he was a damn good flyer! Wow, this was his first time on a broom? Wait!-- did he just catch that thing out of a fifty-foot dive? Holy shi--

"HARRY POTTER!" Rang Professor McGonagall's voice. _Uh-oh,_ Arra thought.

After Harry left with McGonagall, Draco and his pack mules came to stand with her as they instantly began to laugh at Harry's present predicament. And while Arra laughed with them, she slowly began to realize something. _Maybe, Potter's not so bad after all,_ she thought as her eyes followed him up to the castle with the angry professor.

**Author's Note: Ok, so this is the last chapter I will updating for a while as I will be on vacation without internet access. I will continue to finish some chapters but I won't upload them unless I come home to find LOTS of reviews!!!**

**See you all in 10 days!**

**-Maverick**


	5. The Midnight Duel

**Author's Note: Praise Dumbledore, I'm back!!! It seems like forever and I hope you all didn't go insane with the lack of updates. ;) However, I must admit I am a bit disappointed. I came home to find only 4 reviews! It's been 10 days people, I was expecting a bit more. But, no matter, you all will just have to redeem yourselves by reviewing like mad on this chapter. So, here we go!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.**

"No way?!" Ron shouted flabbergasted.

Harry nodded with a proud smile plastered across his face.

"You've got to be kidding me! Really?"

"Yes, Ron!" Harry answered with a tiny tinge of annoyance.

Arra had just come back to the Great Hall for dinner when she noticed Ron and Harry sitting at the table, obviously incredibly happy about something. Interested, she sat down next to them. "What's going on?"

"Harry's made the House Quidditch team!"

"What? I thought McGonagall was going to throw you out of Hogwarts for sure!"

"I thought that as well, but before I knew what was happening, she was introducing me to the team captain and telling me that I was the new 'seeker'".

"You're a seeker! But first years never get put on House teams! Something like this has never happened." Arra said with surprise. "Wow, that is just…just great, Harry." She said as she flashed him a rare smile.

"Why aren't you upstairs packing your bags, Potter?" The drawling voice of Draco Malfoy said from behind them.

Ron turned to Malfoy with a smug smile on his face. "No way Malfoy. Why would Harry leave now? He's just been placed on the Gryffindor Quidditch team."

Malfoy's smile instantly fell flat. "How could someone like you be placed on a Quidditch team?!? You're as much of a muggle as Granger is!"

"I am a wizard, Malfoy, if you haven't noticed. And I have just as much right to be on the Quidditch team as anyone else--I earned it."

"No you didn't! You wouldn't even be on the team if it wasn't for me! And I'm a much better flyer than you ever will be, Potter!"

"Actually Malfoy, you're right. I wouldn't be on the team if not for you. So, thank you," Harry said with a huge smile. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

Malfoy looked ready to explode before finally calming down his face and saying, "Yes, in fact there is." Harry's face fell. "Tonight, midnight, in the trophy room. I challenge you to a Wizard's Duel."

Harry was obviously confused and had no idea what Malfoy was talking about but Ron quickly covered him. "Absolutely. I'm his second. Who's yours?"

Malfoy hastily sized up his lackeys. "Crabbe." He decided. They were about to leave when he addressed Arra. "Aren't you coming?"

Arra hadn't even known he knew she was there. She glanced at Ron and Harry before following Draco out of the Hall. "Are you really going to fight him? You know as well as I that he probably doesn't stand a chance against you. I mean, did you see his face? He clearly had _no idea_ what you were talking about back there." Arra said hurriedly because as much as she wanted to, for some reason, she could no longer hate that scar-faced Gryffindor.

Malfoy snickered. "Of course I'm not going to fight him Arra!" She looked confused as he continued. "I'm going to tip Filch off that someone is in the Trophy Room. And if him getting caught out of bed past curfew doesn't get him thrown out of here, I don't know what will!" He finished as he laughed at his brilliant plan.

Soon, the two went back to their respective dormitories. As Arra walked back to the tower, she wondered to herself. _I want to support Draco, but what he's going to do is dishonorable. A Wizard's duel is supposed to be a respected tradition and to use it as bait for Potter is just wrong. On one hand, Draco is my best friend and if I side with Harry, I'm sure to lose him. But on the other hand, Harry's walking into a trap and has no idea._

And before the end of the night, Arra had come up with a plan.

At 11:15 that night, Arra headed down to the common room. She knew that it was a good thirty minute walk to the trophy room and she wanted to make sure that she caught Harry and Ron before they left. She sat down on the couch and waited for the two boys. About a half-hour till midnight, they walked down the stairs quietly. They didn't notice the ex-Slytherin until she stood up.

"Bloody hell, Black!" Ron scolded as the two jumped in surprise.

"What are you doing down here?" Harry asked.

"I, uhhh…" she paused, for she was not entirely sure how she should relay her information. "Are you guys really going to the Trophy Room to fight Draco?"

"Yes." Ron said with a frown. "And we would really appreciate it if you would just stay out of our business." They tried to maneuver their way around the girl but she just followed their steps, blocking their way.

"It's a trick." She finally blurted out. Harry and Ron stared at her, then at each other, and then back at her. She continued, "Draco is setting you up, he's going to call Filch to get you two caught."

"How do you know?"

"He told me."

"Why are you telling us then?" Harry asked with genuine interest.

"Because," said Arra, "even though I would be extremely happy if you two left Hogwarts forever, this isn't the way I want it to happen. It's not fair for Draco to use a Wizard's duel as bait."

Harry seemed as if he was really listening to her and was possibly believing her. He opened his mouth to say something when the redhead cut him off.

"Are you mad? You think we're going to listen to you? You're probably just telling us this so that we won't go and then we'll look like scared idiots to Malfoy!" Ron shouted accusingly.

"I am not!" Arra argued back.

"Well if you don't believe me," she said as she went to stand next to the angry redhead, "I'm coming with." Ron looked at her with surprise. "I want to prove myself right."

"I can't believe you're actually going!" Said the angry voice of Hermione Granger from the stairs.

"You!" Ron yelled. "What are you doing here? Go back to bed!"

"The three of you are being so selfish! Do you even realize how many points you're going to lose for Gryffindor if you go through with this?"

Arra then got up in her face so close she could see the beads of nervous sweat starting to form on Hermione's brow. "We don't need your opinion. If we did, then we would have asked. But, a mudblood's opinion doesn't matter to me. Now, if you don't mind, we'll be leaving now." She said as she turned to the door.

"Buh-bye," Harry said sarcastically as he waved goodbye and the two boys followed Arra to the door, obviously not so upset about her presence anymore.

However, Hermione soon began to scramble out of the portrait hole behind them. Ron looked back and rolled his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I just want you all to know that if you get caught and get Gryffindor in trouble, everyone will be mad at you and you'll lose all of your friends as well!" She said defiantly.

"Does that mean you won't talk to us anymore?" Harry said with mocking sadness.

"Aw, what a shame!" Arra said playing along with Harry's mood.

Hermione's eyes narrowed at them as she turned on her heel to go back into the common room but soon noticed that she wouldn't be able to. "The fat lady! Sh-sh-she's gone!"

"Not our problem."

"Don't care."

"We're going to be late." The three said as they left the muggle-born witch standing at the picture in shock. A few short moments later, a set of running footsteps came up to them.

"It seems the fat lady has gone on one of her nighttime visits and she won't be back for a while, so I guess my only choice is to go with you and make sure that you don't get into any trouble for Gryffindor." Hermione said as the other three groaned at her presence.

"Ok, I just wanted to prove to Harry and Ron that I was right and that I'm not lying--I didn't want this to turn into a little Gryffindor nighttime bonding session!" Arra said exasperated. Just as she said this, a figure came walking around the corner, obviously scared, for a soft whimpering could be heard.

"Oh thank goodness I've found you!" Neville Longbottom said with relief. "I've been wandering out here for hours because I couldn't remember the password."

"The password is pig snout, but it's no use to you now, the fat lady's not there." Harry said. "But we've actually got somewhere to be so we'll see you later Neville." They turned to leave.

"No! Don't leave me!" Neville whined. "Can't I just come with you?"

At this Arra drew the line. "No! It's bad enough that I'm going to have to tolerate the beaver, but we are _not_ bringing Fatbottom too!"

"It's Longbottom," Neville said in a small voice.

"I don't care," Arra said dismissively without even sparing him a glance.

"Well we can't just leave him here, Arra." Harry explained.

"Whatever, but if either of you get us caught, I will make your life a living hell." Arra said aggressively as they continued on to the trophy room. They finally reached their destination as Arra gestured to the grand empty room. "See! I wasn't lying!" Harry and Ron looked a bit embarrassed as Hermione tapped her foot impatiently waiting for them to leave.

"Keep sniffing around my sweet, they've got to be around here somewhere." The voice of Filch said from the other side of the door. The five Gryffindors looked at each other before running down a back hallway in an attempt to escape Filch.

"I told you!" Arra mouthed at them as they looked even more embarrassed at their obvious lack of trust in her.

They slowly tried to back up to get away from the oncoming caretaker and his cat when Neville accidentally walked straight into a suit of armor and sent it crashing to the floor.

"RUN!" Harry shouted as the five first years took off out of the corridor. They ran until they were too tired to go on, but they could still hear Filch coming, so they hid in the nearest door to them. When Ron tried to open the door, it was locked and Arra suddenly knew just where they were--the forbidden door on the third floor corridor. Dumbledore had made strict rules at the beginning of the year that a sure and certain death would ensue to whomever entered.

"It's locked!"

"Oh, move over!" Hermione shouted. "Alohamora!" Immediately, the door became unlocked and they ran inside. As soon as they shut the door, they held their breaths in silence and waited until they were absolutely sure that Filch was gone. Suddenly, a giant drop of drool landed right on Ron's shoulder.

"Yuck!" He said as he looked at it disgustingly. Arra's face morphed into a sickening appearance and then she instantly froze--hot breath was blowing on her neck. She turned slowly as to not frighten the others if it turned out to be nothing and her eyes suddenly met 6 eyes staring at her with menace. She couldn't even hear the others talking to her.

"Arra?" Harry's voice said with a tinge of worry. "Ar--" He cut off as he too turned and saw the sight. The others turned too and then--

"AHHHHHHH!!!" They screamed as they took off out of the door and sprinted back to Gryffindor tower. They recited the password to the Fat Lady before scrambling through the portrait hole and flopping down on the furniture in the common room. No one talked for at least a full five minutes before a strange sound was heard. It was…laughing? Yes, it was. And it was coming from Arra.

Hermione faced her with her scowling face until Arra noticed all the rest of them looking at her with confusion.

"What?" She asked.

"Is something funny?" Hermione said shortly.

"Yes! Not even two months at Hogwarts and we've already had our first life threatening experience!" Arra said with pure excitement.

"You thought that was _exciting_?" Hermione said with disbelief.

Arra's face turned stern. "Yeah, it was. You just need to learn to lighten up a little bit, Granger." Hermione immediately shrank back into her chair and Ron and Harry couldn't help but smile at how the ex-Slytherin intimidated the know-it-all.

Hermione stood up and headed to the dormitories. "Well, I don't think it was at all. And if you all don't mind, I'm going to bed before you get us all killed, or worse--_expelled._" And with that, she walked away.

Neville had gone to bed as soon as they had come back. Obviously, the experience was just a bit too traumatic for him. Soon, the three remaining kids stood up to leave.

"Arra?" Harry said as she was about to go up to bed.

"Yeah?"

"Umm, thanks, I guess." He said, trying to find the right words. "You know, for trying to…help us not get caught by Malfoy. I'm sorry we didn't believe you."

Arra looked back with eyes wide momentarily. "Err, you're welcome…I guess." Harry smiled back at her and then left with Ron before Arra too retired to bed.

**Author's Note: Cute, I know. Please remember to review! The updates depend on them! I wrote lots of chapters while on vacation, so the more reviews, the faster the updates. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, keep reading!**

**-Maverick**


	6. Turning Point

**Author's Note: Ok, so here comes the turning point in Arra's life. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

After that night of the near death experience, Arra had grown closer to Harry and Ron, and they to her. Of course, they weren't the best of friends as Dumbledore had intended them to be, but it wasn't as bad as it once was. Arra's friendship with Draco still remained, but he always spoke bad mouthed of her Gryffindor peers. However, Hermione and Arra still not had overcome their differences, but Arra had stopped calling her mudblood. The rest of the Gryffindors had become accustomed to Arra as well, not hating her anymore, and some even beginning to like her presence.

Before she knew it, Halloween had rolled around which meant that Arra had survived almost two months of Gryffindor without committing suicide! She never thought such a feat would be possible, after being raised with nothing but Slytherin knowledge and Slytherin family, but she soon found out, being in Gryffindor wasn't so bad--in fact, it was kind of fun. Everyone treated each other equally, there was no division between purebloods, half-bloods, and muggleborns which is something that Arra had never known before. She had had an entertaining conversation with Seamus Finnegan about the unnaturally greasy hair of Professor Snape before discovering that he was a half-blood. And oddly enough, it didn't bother her one bit. Being moved to Gryffindor had actually opened up an entirely new way of life for Ariana Black, but she would never admit it out loud, she liked to keep her Slytherin attitude up for her façade.

On Halloween day, she took a seat next to Harry and Ron in Charms. They shot a quick smile at her and she returned the gesture. Professor Flitwick stood up on his pedestal behind the podium before addressing the class.

"Good morning Gryffindors!" He squeaked.

"Good morning Professor Flitwick" they chanted back.

"Now, today, we will be starting something entirely new, something that I think you all will enjoy very much--levitation!" Most of the class whispered excitedly to their neighbors, but Arra was a bit disappointed; she already knew how to use this spell. After all, it was her misuse of this certain spell that got her placed in Gryffindor.

"Let's all practice the motion, shall we? Ready, _swish and flick_." He said as he showed them the move. "Now you try." Everyone could be seen chanting the directions as they copied the motions of the tiny professor. Arra unenthusiastically did the same. "And here is the enchantement," he said as the written spell was displayed on the board. "_Wingardium Leviosa!"_

Soon enough, everyone was attempting the make their feathers fly around the room as Flitwick had done. Hermione was diligently trying again and again, Harry was trying as well without success, Arra was watching the others, while Ron was violently shaking his wand at his feather and aggressively saying the spell. Arra laughed when he accidentally flung his fist a bit to close to Hermione's head.

"No, no, no," The bushy haired girl scolded as she grabbed his hand to keep him from hitting her. "Stop, you're doing it all wrong. It's _levi-O-sa _not _levi-o-SA_" she explained in a bossy tone while placing the emphasis on different syllables.

Harry and Arra rolled their eyes as they knew the bickering between the two would soon start.

"Well if you know all about it, why don't you do it?" Ron said as he folded his arms across his chest.

"Fine then." Hermione said with a slight smile, she always loved when she got to show off her advanced skills in magic. "_Wingardium Leviosa!"_ She said as her feather started floating into the air. Ron's face turned sour as Professor Flitwick praised Hermione for her talent.

Noticing Ron, who was obviously upset, Arra suddenly got a brillian idea. She pointed her wand at Harry's textbook, recited the enchantment and made the object fly into the air dangerously close to Hermione's flying feather. Professor Flitwick stopped mid sentence as he noticed the book and the entire class just watched. As soon as the heavy book was directly above the feather, Arra slammed the book down on the desk in front of Hermione, while crushing the feather beneath it. The entire class erupted in laughter as Hermione looked on the verge of tears. Arra noticed Ron, who's face was glowing, and Arra couldn't help but smile at the happiness she had caused for the redhead.

Ron and Harry high fived Arra for her idea and Flitwick rounded on her. "Miss Black! Might I ask what just happened?"

"Sorry Professor," she said while trying to stop from laughing. "I have really bad aim."

"Well, ten points from Gryffindor for messing around. But nice spell work, if I may." He added as a last thought.

Arra smirked and soon enough class was over. As soon as they left the room, Ron began to praise Arra and make fun of Hermione.

"I mean did you see her face when you smashed her feather? And she tries to act like she knows everything! 'It's levi-O-sa not levi-o-SA'! It's no wonder she doesn't have any friends!" He said as the rest laughed and a head of big bushy brown hair swiftly walked by as she slammed into Ron's side.

"I think she heard you." Harry said as Hermione walked away sniffling, it was evident that she was crying.

"Who cares?" Arra said. "Serves her right."

Harry and Ron shrugged as they followed her to the Common Room. A few hours later, they headed down to the Great Hall for dinner. Along the way, Arra saw Draco and waved goodbye to Harry and Ron.

"Still hanging out with the weasel and scarhead, I see?" Draco said as she approached him.

"Honestly, they're not that bad." Draco shrugged her off; they decided long ago that they wouldn't let their other friends get in the way of their friendship. "At least I'm not friends with the beaver."

Draco's face suddenly split into a smile. "I heard about your charms class today. That was brilliant Arra, just bloody brilliant!"

She laughed. "Thanks. It just suddenly came to me. But I think the best part was when she left at the very end and you could definitely tell she was bawling like a baby." She said as they entered the Great Hall.

"Yeah, I heard. Pansy told me that she saw her in the girl's bathroom. I guess she's been in there all day crying." He could barely hold in his laughter when he said it. Arra laughed as well but she also felt a pit forming in her stomach; she didn't mean to be _that _mean to her. The two split up as Draco went to sit with the Slytherins, who all waved at Arra, for she was still friends with many of them. She sat with the Gryffindors.

"It's levi-O-sa, not levi-o-SA!" Ron said and Arra could tell that once again repeating his story from earlier that day; this was the eleventh time she'd heard it. He finished and all the Gryffindors were in stitches as Harry spoke to Arra.

"Hey, speaking of Hermione, nobody's seen her since charms, have you?"

"No, actually. Draco told me that Pansy saw her in the bathroom crying. I suppose she's been there since class." She said as she started to eat her soup.

"All day?" He asked as Ron joined their conversation. "Do you think she told anyone?"

"Why would that matter?" Ron asked.

"Because, Arra, you can't get into anymore trouble. Unless you want to leave Hogwarts." He said as Arra's stomach dropped. She hadn't thought about that.

"Well, what am I supposed to do about it now?" She asked.

"I think you should go talk to her." Harry suggested.

"No! Make Ron do it, he helped me make her cry!"

"Hermione's in the _girl's bathroom. _And in case you haven't noticed, we're not girls."

"Unless there's something you've forgotten to tell me." Arra joked.

"Seiously, Arra! You have to go talk to her." Harry said with authority.

Arra groaned and sent a scowl at the two boys as she got up to leave. A few minutes later, she had reached the bathroom in the Charms corridor and entered.

"Alright Granger," she said a bit rudely. "Toughen up kid. It gets a lot worse than this."

_Sniff._

Arra sighed and rubbed her eyes with her palms as she jumped up to sit on the sink countertop. "Ok, I'm sorry that I crushed your feather…I guess."

"You guess?" Hermione choked out between sobs from one of the stalls.

"Well I don't know what else you want me to do, beaver! I came down here, I apologized, what else am I supposed to do?"

"For one thing, you can stop calling me 'beaver'."

Arra nodded. "Ok, now will you come out now? The Halloween feast is going on and I really want some pudding." She said as she started to walk to the door.

_Sob._

"Ugh! What?!" Arra exclaimed as she threw her arms up in the air.

Hermione then slammed the door open and stared at Arra, livid. "You don't even care, do you?! You think that just because you're a pureblood, you can come in here and just expect me to forgive you just like that! It doesn't work that way though, Arra!"

"Ok, ok, ok" Arra said as she put her hands up in surrender. "Just, why don't you come sit down with me and we can talk, ok?" She asked slowly.

Hermione huffed and sat on the sink. Arra brought her a tissue for her to wipe her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Arra said after a few minutes.

Without looking up, Hermione replied, "It's fine."

Arra rolled her eyes. "No it's not, what's wrong?"

Hermione looked at her, deciding on whether or not she should tell her the truth. "I think I'm kind of jealous of you." She whispered.

Arra's eyes widened in shock. "You? Jealous of me? Why?"

"You're smart--"

"Oh, come on, you're so much smarter than me, Hermione."

She smiled. "But that's not just it, you're funny too."

"Well, that's a give in." Arra smirked and Hermione softly laughed.

"See? And plus, nobody makes fun of you for who your family is…"

"Are you kidding? My father is a murderer, my mother is dead, I was raised with my aunt who doesn't even like me, and they only respect me because they're afraid of me." She explained. "At least you actually have a family who loves you."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Still jealous of me?" She asked with a grimace.

"Kind of…"

"What else could you possibly be envious of me for?"

"You have friends. And, you're really pretty."

"It took me a while to actually make friends, you know? In Gryffindor I mean. I was the girl who everyone wanted gone. At least they never tried to pick you off." She joked. "And, um, thank you, I guess. For calling me pretty. But you're pretty too."

Hermione took a strand of her hair and held it up for them both to see. "Really?"

Arra took the hair and examined it. "I think I could help you with your hair. You know, make it a little less bushy or something."

"Thanks." She smiled. "I'd like that."

***

Back in the Great Hall, Harry and Ron were enjoying their food when all of a sudden, Professor Quirrel came running into the Great Hall.

"TROLL!!! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!" He shouted before he fainted.

Everyone started screaming and began to scramble around the hall in fear.

"SILENCE!" Albus Dumbledore shouted and every student in the hall looked at the headmaster with wide eyes. "Prefects and Head's of Houses, you will quickly lead the students back to the dormitories and stay there. Teachers will follow me to the dungeons."

Ron's brother Percy then stood up in a pompous manner. "This way Gryffindors!" Ron and Harry followed the others out of the Hall before Harry realized something that made him want to puke.

"Arra and Hermione!" He shouted at Ron who looked at him with confusion. "They don't know about the troll!" And the two took off towards the bathroom.

***

"Maybe there's a spell to tame the friziness." Arra suggested as she sized Hermione up while trying to think of something to do about her hair.

"Hmmm, possibly. Well how do you do yours?" Hermione asked with genuine interest.

"It's natural."

Hermione scoffed. "You're so lucky."

"Someday, you're going to find someone who loves your _kinkiness._" Arra said with a smile. Hermione laughed along with her as the two girls began to talk about their charms essay.

"Have you finished it yet?" Hermione asked.

"Psh, no. How am I supposed to write a 12-inch essay on the use of a levitation charm. The spell itself is only eight syllables! How much can you squeeze out of that?"

"Well I can help you. I already finished it so I have some extra time."

"Hermione, we just got the assignment a few hours ago."

"I know." she said with embarrassment and the two girls laughed again.

The door opened and Arra shouted, "Oi! Who's there?"

No Answer.

Arra got up and walked towards the door. "Look, I'm having a serious conversation here, so if you don't mind we'd like to…" She faded off as she came face to face with a gigantic mountain troll. She screamed and backed up into the wall as Ron and Harry came running through the door.

"Arra!" Harry shouted as the troll began to swing it's club around madly. The club came down right in Arra's path as she dived to the left towards the boys and just barely escaped her death. Harry pulled her to her feet and stepped forward after the troll as it spotted Hermione.

"Hermione move!" Ron yelled as the troll destroyed the sinks while Hermione tried to crawl away quickly.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked. Arra nodded as they once again avoided the trolls fist. Harry then dived onto the club of the troll in an attempt to fight it off.

"Harry!" Arra screamed as he was swung up into the air before the troll noticed. It stared at the black haired boy strangely before picking him off of the club like a bug and holding him high in the air, dangling from his ankle.

"Ron, do something!"

Ron stared horrified at the scene before him. Hermione couldn't help, for she was trapped beneath the rubble of the crushed sinks. Arra had left her wand next to the sink from when her and Hermione were talking, so she was also helpless. Ron was the only one who even had the slightest chance of saving Harry. His face turned from fear to determination as he raised his wand and said confidently, "_Wingardium Leviosa!"_ And the club was removed from the troll's hand before Ron smashed it down on it's head, much like Arra had done with Hermione's feather. The troll's eyes slowly rolled back into it's head before it came crashing to the floor, throwing Harry aside in the process.

Arra ran to Harry. "Harry," she said rolling him over onto his back so that she could look at his face. He began to cough. "You, ok?"

He looked back up into her dark eyes that were filled with concern. "Y-y-yeah, I'm fine." He stuttered out as she helped him to his feet. Over in the other corner of the bathroom, Ron was also assisting Hermione to stand up. They all met in the middle of the room and gathered around the troll.

"Is it dead?"

"No, just knocked out." Arra said. "We should get out of here before someone catches us--"

"Oh my goodness!" McGonagall's voice came from the doorway as a few other teachers came filing in as well. "D-d-did you four do this?" She asked with shock, clutching her hand to her chest.

None of them answered.

"Answer me now!" She said sternly. Arra, Ron and Harry all opened their mouths to answer when Hermione's voice cut them off.

"It's my fault Professor." The other three Gryffindors were stunned. "I came looking for the troll because I'd read about them, I thought I could handle it. Arra came to try and stop me before the boys showed up and fought him. If it weren't for them, I'd probably be dead." The others looked stunned at Hermione's declaration.

"Miss Granger, that was very poor judgment on your part. Five points will be taken from Gryffindor. As for the three of you," she said turning her attention. "Five points will be given to each of you, for sheer dumb luck!" And then she left the bathroom and the four students were dismissed.

They walked back to the common room in silence. By the time they got there, everyone else had gone off to bed. They all looked at each other for about a full five seconds before all saying in unison, "Thanks."

And for some strange unknown reason, the crazy battle of the mountain troll was the start of the most beautiful and unnatural friendship between a blood traitor, a half-blood, a muggle-born, and the pureblood there ever was.

**Author's Note: Yay! They're friends now! Hope you liked it, remember to review! Also, I think that we should set a goal or something for the reviews. Let's say, when the review count is up to thirty, I'll update. Sound good? That's only like 8 reviews and I have faith in you all that we can make it happen!**

**-Maverick**


	7. 2 Years Later

**Author's Note: Ok guys, here comes the weird part (please don't hate me!). I will now be writing the story during the time of their third year. The previous chapters involving the first year were just Arra's introduction just because it's something that you need to know to understand the rest of the story, and I just felt I needed to explain how a fourth member of the golden trio came to be. I don't like stories in which they're just there. I'm skipping second year entirely because it doesn't pertain to my story, and I want to get Sirius back in the picture. But no worries, Arra will be explaining what happened during the lost time to all of you. :]**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter, just Arra.**

2 years later…

Arra sat on her bed in her room at the Leaky Cauldron, there she was meeting her three Gryffindor friends. She was flipping through a picture album that she had created right when she began her life at Hogwarts. The first picture was of her Aunt Bellatrix waving her off to school. Arra hadn't seen her aunt since then. After she was transferred to Gryffindor and made friends there, Bellatrix basically disowned her. But Arra didn't mind, she now owned the entirety of the Black fortune, even though she was underage. (The ministry didn't argue when Bellatrix Lestrange was in the picture). But she didn't live alone during the holidays, she was always welcome at the Weasley's or the Grangers.

The next picture was of her and Draco sitting on the train. She still retained her friendship with Draco, but it became increasingly harder. His family disapproved of her as well because of her switch in houses, so they forbade him from seeing her, but they still hung out as much as possible at school. He also didn't like her friendship with Harry, Ron and Hermione; but he tolerated it as long as he didn't see it or hear about it.

On the next page, was a picture of the four friends sitting in the hospital wing after the fight for the sorcerer's stone. Arra still remembered that day like it was yesterday:

_After they got through the Devil's Snare and the Flying keys, came the chess match. Ron had sacrificed himself for the others to move on and Arra had volunteered to stay behind to look after him and get help if needed. Harry and Hermione were about to leave the two when Arra ran after Harry and threw her arms around him._

"_Be careful," she said in a voice just above a whisper. She then broke apart so that she could look at him. "I just got you broken in as a good friend. It would be a shame if I had to start all over with a new person." She joked, her usual charming personality coming back to her. Harry smiled down at her and they remained that way for who knows how long--time seemed to stop. Harry eventually pulled away and Arra watched him go. About 30 minutes later, Hermione came back and told Arra what had happened and the two girls woke Ron up and ran as fast as they could for help. _

_When they were told that Harry was in the Hospital Wing and that he was going to be okay, Arra almost passed out from excitement and relief._

If the friendship between them all wasn't strong before that incident, that's what brought them together. She smiled at the thought of her friends; she hadn't seen Ron or Harry since the end of second year, for she had stayed with Hermione over the summer in France. Mr. and Mrs. Granger were thrilled that Hermione had a good friend who was a girl that wanted to spend time with her. Before Hogwarts, she had no friends.

Arra turned the page again and found a picture of the four of them in the library trying to uncover the secret of the Chamber of Secrets during their second year.

"_I'm telling you guys, it's not Draco!" Arra tried to convince her friends._

"_Who else could it be Arra? You told us yourself that his family is a supporter of You-Know-Who. And he's in Slytherin along with his whole family. There's a very good chance he's his heir." Ron pointed out._

"_I used to support him too, and I was in Slytherin as well. Why don't you suspect me?"_

"_Because you didn't know any better," Harry said trying to make her feel better about her past. They tried as much as possible to not say bad things about Slytherins since Arra became their friend._

"_Here it is!" Hermione said as she pulled a large and old book out of the shelf and laid it on the table to an open page. "The Polyjuice Potion." They all scanned over the potion and cringed at its difficulty._

"_How long will it take to make?" Harry asked._

"_A month."_

"_A month? But Hermione, Malfo--The Heir of Slytherin," he said correcting himself after a glare from Arra, "could have attacked half the muggleborns in school by then!"_

"_I know, but it's the only chance we've got."_

_They had all chosen to stay behind on Christmas Holiday in order to interrogate Draco._

"_I'm telling you guys," Arra said as they once again met in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom to take the potion, "this is pointless. You're not going to find out anything."_

"_Well, then we can rule out Malfoy as a suspect."_

"_Ugh! If he was the Heir of Slytherin, he would have told me! We are friends, you know."_

"_I doubt he would have told you Arra. You're friends with people who aren't purebloods, I think he would have been afraid you'd rat him out."_

_Arra rolled her eyes in defeat as she went along with the plan. But after Hermione accidentally turned into a cat, Arra stayed behind to comfort her while the boys went on to question Draco. _

Arra smiled as she looked at the picture. She knew that Draco would never betray her, no matter who she was friends with. She then thought about what had happened recently after then, when Hermione was petrified.

_They were all told to gather in the Common Room, for McGonagall had an important announcement. She came in with a grave look on her face and told them the new rules and about the prospect of Hogwarts closing. They were about to go up to their dorms when the Minister of Magic himself came in the room. Everyone was silent._

"_Miss Black, can I see you please?" He said._

_Arra looked with wide eyes at Harry and Ron. Along with Harry, she had also been a prime suspect as the Heir of Slytherin, and with the Minister coming here for her, she was definitely scared. Harry squeezed her hand before she followed the Minister out of the room._

_He paused before speaking to her in a careful voice. "Eh, there has been some speculation about your involvement with the opening of the Chamber of Secrets."_

"_I'm aware of that, but just because I'm a former Slytherin and my family has history with You-Know-Who, doesn't mean that I can be accused." She argued back._

"_Actually, there is." He said as Arra stiffened. "We found your schoolbook near Miss Granger when she was attacked."_

"_We're friends! She borrowed my book! There's nothing wrong with that!"_

"_Professor Snape has told me that you weren't present at the Quidditch match either?"_

"_I had gone to look for Hermione. She just ran off and we didn't want her to get hurt but Harry had to get to the pitch so I went after her!"_

"_But you were the one who found her petrified in the library, with no other witnesses to prove your innocence." He said slowly._

_Arra stuttered in confusion. He couldn't just accuse her of hurting her best friend! She hadn't done anything wrong! Just because her father was Voldemort's right hand man, and she used to be in Slytherin--th-they just couldn't do this!_

"_I'm sorry Miss Black, but until the attacker is caught, we are going to put you under the control of the Ministry. For your protection. We're not blaming you for the attacks, but it's just a precaution."_

Since that day, Arra hated the Ministry more than anything else. She disliked them before, but now she just loathed them beyond anything else. For the remainder of that year, she was placed in a safe house under the watchful eye of the Ministry officials. But when Voldemort was caught at the end of the year, she was pardoned and the Ministry apologized endlessly. However, it did work in her favor, for her apology from the Ministry happened to be that of cash, and Arra was free to use her entire fortune the way she wanted to because they decided long ago, that trying to control someone like Ariana Black was just a bad idea.

She was permitted to come back to Hogwarts for the end of the year feast though, and it was a joyful reunion between the friends.

Arra shut the book and Hermione entered the hotel room.

"Hey Arra. What are you doing?"

"Just looking at some old pictures of us from when I used to hate you." She smiled at her best girlfriend. True to her word from the night they became friends, Arra had done everything in her power to make Hermione's hair less bushy, and she had done quite a good job. In the past two years, Hermione and Arra had both become even more beautiful, but Arra would always have extra beauty that Hermione lacked, while Hermione would always be so much smarter than Arra. They balanced each other well, which is one of the reasons why they were so close. Arra was the spontaneous one, Hermione was the practical one. Arra was outgoing, while Hermione was shy. The two girls were insanely different, but still extremely close.

"Haha, very funny." Hermione responded with mock laughter. "Hey, Harry and Ron are supposed to meet us at the ice cream parlor in about 10 minutes, do you want to start walking now?"

"Sure." Arra said hopping off the bed. In the past two years, her dark brown hair had gained a bit of a reddish tint and was now the most beautiful shade of dark auburn. Her silky smooth hair ran gracefully down her shoulders and ended with gorgeous curls around the small of her back. She walked over to the mirror and applied a little bit of dark brown eye shadow to match her eyes and a small coat of lipstick for a trace of color. That was all the make up she needed for her skin was smooth and pale with a natural rosiness to her cheeks. Her eyelashes were extremely long and already black, so she needed no mascara. She pulled on a tee shirt and jeans with her black Chuck Taylor Converse sneakers and met Hermione at the door.

They walked through Diagon Alley admiring the shops until they noticed Ron and Harry sitting outside eating ice cream.

"Hey guys!" Arra said giving them both a hug before sitting down.

"So, have a good holiday, Arra?" Ron asked as he shoveled ice cream down his throat.

"Yeah, France was great. Hermione and her parents were really nice to let me tag along. How was Egypt?"

"Brilliant! We got to see the pyramids and loads of ancient stuff. Hermione would have gone mad with all the information and history around there." He joked as Hermione gave him a frown.

"Harry," she said turning to the black haired boy, "did you really blow up your aunt?"

"Yes," he smiled, "but she deserved it!"

Arra laughed at Harry's accidental prank while Hermione scolded him for being so irresponsible. Arra had missed her friends so much; especially Harry. Last year they grew really close because everyone thought that they were the ones attacking people so they had a lot in common. During that time, their friendship had become so strong that Arra felt as if she could trust Harry with anything and that he would do it without a second thought.

She missed Ron as well. The two of them were very funny by themselves, but once you got them together, laughs were sure to come. Ron could always cheer Arra up and she could do the same for him (and she had to quite often, for Ronald Weasley could get rather moody at times). Hermione frequently got angry at them for their carefree attitudes and joking ways.

When they were finished with ice cream, they all walked back to the Leaky Cauldron to meet up with Ron's family.

"Arra!" Mrs. Weasley said smiling and giving her a big bear hug. "Lovely to see you dear." Mr. Weasley hugged her as well before she went to greet the rest of the family.

"Hey there serpent-girl!" The twins shouted. After Ron became friends with Arra, Fred and George immediately warmed up to her as well. But they still poked fun at her for being in Slytherin. Behind Ron, Fred and George were definitely her favorite Weasleys. They hugged her and immediately started talking about new products they had come up with for the year. Arra often helped the twins create new pranks (without telling Hermione or Mrs. Weasley, of course).

Percy then walked towards them with his head held high and chest puffed out in a pompous manner. "Ariana," he said holding his hand out for her to shake. "How good to see you." He kept his face straight the whole time and was talking to her like a potential business partner.

Arra took his hand and curtsied to the ground and kissed the top of it in a servant like manner. "Your majesty." She said trying to hold in a laugh. Fred and George instantly doubled over in laughter and Percy frowned at the joke.

"Do you two really have to encourage her?" He asked angrily while still attempting to keep his face straight.

"Do you really have to call me _Ariana_?" Arra asked giggling along with the twins. Percy scowled and left them alone.

Soon enough, they had all gathered around the table to eat and Arra sat next to Harry. She kept noticing Ginny shooting them looks of interest. Since Arra was kicked out of school for a while last year, she and Ginny never got close. But she did know that Ginny was head over heals for Harry and that the small redhead was obviously jealous of the close friendship Arra had with him.

Mr. Weasley began to have a hushed conversation with Percy at the head of the table while shooting glances at Arra. She figured they were just talking about all the Ministry hullabaloo that involved her from last year. She tried to see what they kept gesturing to, but all she could see was "FROM AZKABAN" because the first word was covered.

"This is a dinner for family and friends, boys. I'm sure that your discussion can wait until later." Mrs. Weasley said.

"What are you talking about that's so important anyways, Dad?" Ron asked with interest trying to peer over the table at what was lying before them. Arthur immediately snatched it out of sight and said quickly,

"Nothing Ronald. It's nothing."

By now, Mrs. Weasley must have known what was going on because she said in a very stern tone, "I think it's time you put that newspaper away. _Now._" By now Arra was very interested and it obviously had something to do with her, since they kept looking at her before.

"Yes dear I think you're right." Mr. Weasley said trying to shove the paper into his pocket but it accidentally slipped to the floor right next to where Arra was sitting.

"Don't bother with it Arra, I'll get it." He said while trying as fast as he could to rush over before she picked it up.

"It's no problem, I've got it." She said as she grabbed the paper and her eyes were suddenly glued to the front page. There, in front of her own eyes was the one thing she never wanted to see ever again; the thing she hated more than anything else in the world. And before she passed out and fell over backwards unconscious the last thing she saw was the entire caption and a madman's face. A face she knew. The face of her father--Sirius Black.

**Author's Note: I hope you all don't hate me for throwing this curveball! And I hope you continue to stick with this story, because it will be good.**

**I hope I covered everything important through those missing years, and if I didn't, let me know and I'll try to clear it up in the upcoming chapters. And I won't be skipping anymore time either, all the upcoming years will be rewritten to fit Arra and her story.**


	8. What the heck?

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed! I really appreciate your feedback!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Arra came back to consciousness in just a few minutes.

_This can't be happening. My father can't have just broken out of Azkaban prison! That's unheard of, that's impossible! Yeah, that's right, it _is_ impossible. So when I open my eyes, I'm going to be in my bed in the Leaky Cauldron, alone. Everything is going to be ok. Dad's still in prison, Dad's still in prison, Dad's still in prison…_

And she opened her eyes.

_Oh shit. _She thought as she stared into several sets of eyes looking down on her with worry. She was lying on her back on the floor of the Inn still clutching the newspaper in her hand.

"Arra?" Harry asked slowly. She just stared back blankly. "Are you ok?"

She lay there for about ten more seconds before scrambling to her feet quickly as

everyone else suddenly backed out of her way. "I'm fine." She said swiftly staring at the floor.

"Maybe you should--" Mr. Weasley was cut off.

"I said I'm fine." She said shortly giving him a glare. He immediately backed off with a look of surprise at her temper. "I'm sorry," she apologized to him and his expression softened once again. "I think I just need some time to think." And she walked away shaking her head, as if the thought of her father would just magically fall out of her head. Everyone stared after her with looks of concern as she climbed the stairs to her room.

She closed the door behind her when she entered and placed a hand on her head--it was throbbing. She was so confused it hurt. How could this have happened? Nobody can break out of Azkaban, much less her father. Wasn't anybody guarding the door or something? He's a mass bloody murderer, shouldn't he have had more security?

She flopped down on her bed with her arms thrown above her head upon her pillow and closed her eyes. She could hardly remember her father or her time with him at all, and the only thing that she knew for sure was true was that she used to have a dog. He was a big black dog that people called…Padfoot? Yes, that was the name of her dog. But sometimes it wasn't around and to this day Arra didn't understand that part.

She remembered when she was about eight years old, her Aunt Bellatrix had taken her back to Grimmauld Place because she wanted to show her how her father's life had been, so that Arra would know never to follow in his footsteps.

_They entered the house that Arra had not been in since she was just merely a year old. Her father had brought them here that night because he thought it would be the best hiding place, even though he hated this house more than anything. The couches were still flipped over, lamps still broken, the house was a mess. The only thing that had been replaced since Sirius' capture had been the front door that the Auror's had broken down. Arra gazed around in wonder as her Aunt Bellatrix left her alone so that she could raid the house for valuables in order to sell. Arra noticed a closed door at the end of the hallway that was thick with dust. When she came closer, she could just make out two areas with thinner layers of dust, they looked like handprints. She placed her own hands in the outlines--they were so much smaller than the ones who had previously been there._

_She pushed the door open and in the corner she noticed a crib. At once she knew whose it was. She ran her hands over the old oak and a memory came flooding back to her._

_The baby Arra looked up at a face that was staring down at her with mixed emotions. A chime of the clock tore his eyes away from her as he left the room and muttered a quiet goodbye._

_The eight year old Arra felt tears sting her eyes at the thought of her father leaving her. In her memory he seemed so nice, like he would never hurt her, back then, she had no idea just what he was capable of._

_She continued up the stairs of the house before emerging on the landing where her father's childhood room was. She pushed the door open as it screeched. Around the room were Gryffindor memorabilia on the walls and such. Disgusting, Arra thought as she noticed muggle pictures as well--they didn't even move! What kind of wizard was Sirius Black anyways? She saw one picture on the wall that stood out to her in particular in which four teenage boys were smiling and waving. It was one of the few wizard like pictures in the room. She pulled it off the wall and examined it. The one on the far left was short and fat, she knew that this was Peter Pettigrew, or Wormtail as many of her family called him. He was one of the men that her father killed. Next to him in the photo was her father. He was very good looking, he looked like he could never become a killer like he was. On his side was a boy who looked like he had just gone through hell. He looked like he hadn't slept all night, but he was still happy to be with his friends. She learned from the back of the picture, that his name was Mooney. Her eyes then fell on the last boy in the picture and she immediately frowned at the sight of him--James Potter. _

_It was because of him that her life was the way it was. Him and his wife and their stupid son Harry. If they would have just died like they were supposed to, Arra wouldn't be stuck in this mess. And he deserved to die to, if he was willing to be friends with someone like her father--best friends for that matter. Bellatrix had told her all about the friends that her father had made at Hogwarts whom he ditched his family for. And now she was staring at them. She threw the picture on the ground and stomped on it a few times before spying another picture that contained someone she knew--Her mother._

_She carefully picked up the framed picture from the bedside stand and stared into the face of an angel. Like her father, her mother, Violet Anderson-Black was also a pureblood, but that was about the only thing that Sirius' family liked about her, for she was in Gryffindor as well. She had dark auburn curls much like Arra's but were much shorter. Her face was petite and pale as it smiled back at Arra. Her eyes were bright blue and sparkled like diamonds; Arra could definitely tell where she had gotten her good looks from, as both her parents were obviously extremely gorgeous. Arra had never met her mother, so she had no reason to hate her like she did her father. She wiped a tear from her cheek as she placed the picture carefully inside her bag. _

Arra was pulled back to reality as she realized that she was sobbing. She grabbed a tissue from the bedside stand and noticed the clock, it was almost 11pm! She had left dinner almost 3 hours ago. Suddenly, a knock was heard at her door.

"Arra, it's me." Said the voice of Harry Potter. "Can I come in?"

Arra sniffed a couple of times and tried to wipe the tears from her face as she gave him permission to enter.

"Hey," he said slowly as he sat down next to her. "How do you feel?"

Arra scoffed at his concern. "How do you think I feel Harry?" She asked with a small smile. She could hardly ever be mad at Harry.

"Right." He agreed as she gave a small laugh. "Bad question."

"No, it's fine. I know you're just trying to help. But I think I'll be fine, you know. I mean, I'll get over it…I think." She tried to rationalize. "As long as I don't see him and he stays away from me."

"Well then you probably won't want to hear why I'm here then…" Harry mumbled looking at the ground. Arra took his hand and stared at him.

"What is it?" She asked with unease. "Tell me Harry, please."

He looked into her eyes. She was staring back at him with concern and he couldn't help but feel his heart warm at her caring nature. It was incredible how her father just broke out of prison and she should be completely distraught, but here she was, trying to make _him _feel better. He could hardly believe the transformation she had gone through since becoming friends with him. She had abandoned all but a few of her Slytherin tendencies, she was hardly ever rude to people anymore (unless they deserved it, or she just didn't like them), and she would do anything for her friends. Especially Harry, he knew that she would just about die for him. And sometimes the thought of that scared him like nothing else--he wouldn't know what to do without her by his side.

"I was downstairs and I overheard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley talking…" he said slowly staring into her pleading eyes, "…about your dad."

She blinked a couple of times, took a deep breath, and nodded shortly for him to go on, never looking away from him.

"They, and the ministry, believe that your father is going to come to Hogwarts."

She processed the information for almost a full ten seconds before saying with an angry, raised voice. "Why? Why would he do that? What could he possibly want there? It's not me he wants, he hates me! If he wanted me dead, he would have done it years ago…" She asked quickly while trying to create any thinkable reason as to why he would do such a thing. She got up and began to pace around the room wringing her hands together anxiously. She set her right foot down on the ground when the reason suddenly came to her and she gasped while clamping her hands over her mouth. Tears started to form in her eyes as she slowly looked back at her best friend and raised a shaky hand to point at him. "It's you, isn't it?"

He nodded slowly as she came back to sit with him. She opened her mouth to say some words of comfort, but nothing came out.

"I'm not scared, you know." He said still inspecting the floor. "And you shouldn't be either." He now averted his eyes back to her.

"How am I not supposed to be scared Harry? My dad is trying to kill my best friend because you defeated You-Know-Who and sent him to prison. Am I supposed to just relax and take a bubble bath?" She said with frustration. "I don't think so."

"The safest place in the world is Hogwarts. You'd have to be completely mad to try and break into there. We'll be completely safe." He tried to explain calmly.

"Well, it just so happens that Sirius Black _is _completely and utterly mad! And if he was able to escape from the impenetrable Azkaban, do you think he's just going to give up because we're in Hogwarts? No! He's going to try again and again until you are dead!" She yelled at him. "And I am _not_ going to let you die. Mark my words Harry Potter, I won't let you get hurt."

He smiled at wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug. "I'm not going to let him hurt you either, Arra. I would never let anyone hurt you."

She took a deep breath as she placed her arms around him and placed her head on his shoulder. The closeness of their bodies didn't bother either of them, it just seemed so natural, like they were made to fit together. She inhaled his scent and her stomach did a small flip. He smelled like soap, but it was a good smell--manly, as she would describe it. She was glad he didn't use all those fancy colognes and products, that kind of behavior just wasn't Harry. She closed her eyes and smiled as she wrapped her arms around him tighter. Her right hand traveled upward in the process and her thumb brushed a bit of his soft short hair, and she suddenly got the impulse to tangle her hand within those black locks…

DING!

The clock chimed and the two split apart in surprise--it was midnight. Harry gave a small chuckle as he looked at Arra.

"Night Arra. And, thanks for talking to me, I feel a lot better." He smiled as he left the room.

"Yeah…" she said after him as he closed the door behind him. She looked around in confusion and began to breathe deeply. She flopped back on the bed with her head on the pillow as she asked out loud, "What was _that _about?" She shifted around beneath the sheets uncomfortably.

After almost ten minutes of changing her sleeping position, she turned to look out the window. The full moon had now risen and was shining into her room. She closed her eyes and much to her displeasure her dreams that night were filled with a certain scar-faced friend of hers.

**Author's Note: Uh-oh! It seems as if Miss Arra is beginning to like Mr. Potter! And her dad just broke out of prison to kill the boy she likes! Goodness gracious, what a life! Haha, I'm weird, I know. Review and I'll give you a cookie!**

**-Maverick**


	9. Familiar Faces

**Thanks to all of you guys who reviewed! I don't really have much to say right now so let's just get to it, shall we? ENJOY!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.**

Arra awoke the next morning with a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her eyes fluttered open to meet the sun blazing through the window and shedding light upon her face. She smiled at the beautiful day and the fact that she was going back to Hogwarts today when she remembered the events from yesterday. She immediately sat up and glanced around the room for the object in which she desired. She spotted it and quickly snatched it off of the desk in the corner while sitting in a nearby chair.

She bit her lip and frowned as she once again looked at the front page of _The Daily Prophet_ and the escaped convict that was her father. He was screaming, like a madman, but then again, that's exactly what he was. Her dark eyes then narrowed and stared at his picture with fury as she remembered his motivation for escaping--Harry.

_Harry! _Her eyes widened as she recalled their conversation yesterday. Her attitude suddenly changed. _Harry? _Her brow furrowed in confusion. _What even happened yesterday? We were talking, just like we normally do, like friends, and then when he hugged me I just…NO! Harry is my best friend. That's all. Nothing more. Get it out of your head, out, out, OUT! _She scolded her inner self and tried to suppress her feelings. _It's just a phase or something. I was upset because of what happened, and he was just trying to make me feel better. He doesn't feel that way about me, so neither do I! When I see him today, I won't feel anything. Nothing. Nada! _

She then dropped the matter as she began to search through her trunk for something to wear. Even though she was just riding on a train, for some reason, she wanted to look especially nice today. She hummed a happy song to herself and continued to smile. She figured that if she just remained happy the whole day, no one would bother her about her dad, and it would help her get over her small crush on Harry. If you could even call it a crush. I mean, honestly, it was nothing. Right?

She eventually decided on a pair of jeans, and a maroon long sleeve shirt. She stared at herself in the mirror, this outfit showed off her body quite nicely, she smiled as she went to open the door.

"Oh!" Hermione's voice came from the other side of the door. Her fist was raised as she was about to knock on the door.

"Hermione!" Arra said with excitement as she pulled her best girlfriend into a bone crushing hug.

"Oof!" Hermione exclaimed as Arra's weight was thrust upon her. "I see you're feeling better today?" She laughed at her friend's mood.

Arra pulled away and smiled at the bushy haired girl. "Oh yeah, loads better!" She said in a convincing voice.

"Arra!" Ron's voice said from the end of the hallway as he was walking towards them.

"Ronald Weasley!" Arra yelled as she jumped on him and gave him a hug as well.

He gave Hermione a quizzical look and gestured to Arra, who was latched on him like a leech. Hermione shrugged and shook her head. "Is she drunk, or something?" Ron mouthed soundlessly to Hermione so Arra couldn't see. Hermione opened her mouth to protest when she closed it and her brow furrowed as she considered the possibility. She shrugged again.

"You're in a much better mood today. Sleeping must have done wonders for you!" Ron exclaimed as she stopped hugging him.

"Yeah, I just figured that there's not really anything I can do about him." Arra said truthfully. "I can't let him keep me from living my life."

"I'm glad you see it that way." Hermione said giving her friend an encouraging pat on the back.

"Me too, but you don't have to act so excited about everything. I'm sure my folks won't pester you with questions as long as you just smile every once and a while." Ron said as the three friends laughed at Arra's overenthusiastic behavior.

"I suppose I could tone it down a bit. But you know, with an attitude like this, I would make one kick-ass cheerleader!" She joked as they reached the lobby of the Leaky Cauldron.

"Would you be wearing the outfit as well then?" Harry asked joining the conversation as he came up to them. Ron and Hermione chuckled softly but Arra could do nothing but stare at Harry.

"You ok?" He asked giving her a puzzled look.

Arra then realized that everyone was staring at her. "I-uhhh…" she couldn't think of anything to say. So she started to laugh. Loudly. "Ha ha! I'm sorry! I just, ha ha! My brain just momentarily went on vacation! Ha ha!" She stuggled to get out between laughs. "But, it's back now." She said as she miraculously calmed down and the laughter ceased at once when she noticed her three friends frowning at her odd behavior. "Sorry." She muttered as she ran her hand through her long silky hair and suddenly became very interested in the floor.

"It's no problem." Harry said. Arra continued to look at the floor. "Let's say we grab some breakfast before the train ride, shall we?" The other three agreed and they sat at a small table near the back corner. "So do you feel any different Arra?" Harry asked.

Her head perked up. "Different? Why would I feel different about anything? Or anyone for that matter?" She asked a bit too quickly. Then realized he was talking about her dad. "Oh that! Yeah, I feel better. I suppose the shock is still wearing off and that's why I'm a bit off my rocker this morning." She fibbed. Arra was always skilled at coming up with lies to get out of trouble quite quickly. One of her Slytherin qualities that she kept.

Her friends nodded with sympathy and understanding when the rest of the Weasleys came bustling down the stairs, trunks and all. "You four!" gestured to the four friends. "Are you packed and ready to go?" They nodded. "All of your books? Clothes?" Again they nodded. "Well chop-chop then! It's nearly 10 o'clock and we'd best be on our way."

At fifteen minutes till 11, the group arrived at Platform 9¾ in order to make the journey to Hogwarts. After all of them made it through the barrier, the goodbyes began. Arra looked around the platform in awe--it never ceased to amaze her. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied a head of platinum blonde hair and she turned to see her best non-Gryffindor friend, Draco Malfoy. She was about to wave at him when she noticed his father Lucius standing close behind him giving Arra a glare. As you can tell, the two did not see eye to eye on pretty much anything. She gave him and Draco both her signature Black family sneer, which was enough to make a lesser man run and hide beneath a rock. Lucius gave her a nasty smile as he turned away to talk with someone whom Arra could not see. When she was sure his father wasn't looking, she waved fervently and smiled at Draco. He waved back and laughed at her incredible acting skills and enthusiastic greeting. She then went to say goodbye to the Weasleys. She would have gone to talk with Draco, but she knew it was far too dangerous for them to be seen talking in front of his father, but they would later meet up on the train. Arra usually rode to Hogwarts with the Slytherins.

Mrs. Weasley pulled her into a tight hug. "Be careful this year, dear." She said quite seriously as she looked at Arra. Arra agreed. "I mean, it's not like we don't think you can't take care of yourself or anything but…" She pulled her into another hug. "Just look after yourself." She smiled. "And look after Harry as well. You two tend to just attract trouble to yourselves, and we don't need anyone losing a limb or something dreadful along those lines." She warned while trying to keep her tone lighthearted, but Arra could tell she was definitely worried about her two 'adopted kids'.

"I will, Mrs. Weasley. I promise." She smiled as she turned to say her goodbyes to the other Weasley parent.

"Like Molly said, be careful. I know that this year is going to be difficult for you, but you need to remember that the ministry is doing everything in their power to catch him." He said gesturing to a wanted poster of her father on the wall. The fact that Mr. Weasley worked for the Ministry was the only reason she disliked him, blinded by her hate for the Ministry. But she usually tried to just bury that aspect of him, because he was the closest thing she had to a father, and she loved him just the same.

The whistle blew and the kids boarded the train. Arra said her goodbyes to Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny as she ventured to the back of the train in search of Draco. She walked by a compartment of first years who were talking loudly until they spotted her. She noticed the sudden silence and turned to look at them. All were staring wide eyed at her, as if she was the murderer they were just discussing, not her father.

"You know, I learned everything I know from my dad. Including that special little curse that killed, oh, how many people was it? Thirteen?" She sneered at them as they clutched at each other in fear. She laughed and walked away. She soon noticed that everyone was giving her the same looks, and whispering behind their hands when she came into view. Apparently Mr. Weasley was right, this year was going to be difficult.

She found Draco's compartment, who he was sharing with Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson, and Blaise Zabini. She slid the door open and they all greeted her enthusiastically, except for Pansy. The two girls never really liked each other.

"Arra," Zabini stood up and took her hand and placed a kiss on it in a gentleman like fashion. "I see this summer did wonders for you beauty, is that a new shirt?" He said eyeing her hungrily.

She smiled cheekily as she withdrew her hand from his grasp. "Always the gentleman, Zabini." She sneered as she told him to put her trunk in the storage space above. He did so immediately. She then looked at Pansy, who was sitting closely to Draco next to the window. "Move." She said simply.

"What?" Pansy asked with her nasally voice.

"That's my spot. I always sit next to the window with Draco." She said defiantly and as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"No! I'm sitting here."

"Not for long. Move." Arra said narrowing her eyes. Pansy looked around the compartment for someone to come to her aid. Everyone looked at her expectantly. She pouted and let out a whimper as she huffed and moved over to sit next to Crabbe, who pointed and laughed loudly at the girl's misfortune. Arra smirked and plopped down in the seat next to Draco. He smiled at her and Pansy looked on the verge of tears.

"So any ideas on who will be the next Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Zabini asked as the group joined in on the discussion.

About an hour later, the train suddenly jerked to a stop.

"Why are we stopped? We can't be there already! I'm not even dressed in my robes yet!" Pansy whined in her most annoying voice.

"Oh shut it!" Arra shouted. The girl did so at once. "We're not there yet, it's too early, something must be wrong with the train."

Draco walked over to the window and pressed his face against it in order to look around. "I don't see anything. Wait, what's that?--Whoa!" He yelped as he jumped back and knocked into Arra. She turned to see the window rapidly being covered with a sheet of ice. Her eyes widened as she clutched onto Draco's side. He placed an arm over her.

"What's going on?" She asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

CLICK.

They all turned around to hear the sound of a door opening. Arra and Draco both peered through the glass that was separating them from the hallway. To the right, at the end of the hallway, they could see the door slowly swinging open. A hooded figure suddenly appeared in the doorway and the two friends backed up instinctively. Arra grabbed Draco's hand as he sqeezed hers back.

Slowly, the hooded figure came into view as it turned to face them through the glass of their compartment door. It's old decrepit hands were heading for the doorknob and Arra held onto Draco tighter. It was about to open the door when another hooded creature appeared and beckoned for it to follow. Without a glance back into the compartment, it continued on its way.

Draco let out a breath he had been holding the entire time. "Bloody dementors." He scowled.

"What were they doing here?" Arra asked as she sat back down and the rest of them joined her. Draco was still holding her hand.

"Hmmm, I don't know Arra. Why would the guards of Azkaban be here? What on earth could they possibly be looking for?" Zabini asked sarcastically.

"Oh." She grimaced. She looked out the window. The ice was clearing up, they must be leaving, or just far away at the other end of the train. _I hope Harry and them are all right. _She worried about her other friends. _I'm sure they'll be fine. As long as none of them stowed my father in their trunk, the dementors won't bother them. _

None of them said much of anything for the remainder of the ride and soon enough, they had arrived at Hogwarts. Arra walked out of the train with Draco.

"Hey, thanks for letting me hold onto you like a leech back there when the dementor came." She laughed and Draco joined her. Arra could talk to Draco about anything, and it was easy for her. "It was scary!" She said trying to defend her behavior.

"Or you just wanted to hold onto me." He said in his usual pompous manner. To anyone else, this would have seemed rude, but conversations like these were normal to Arra and Draco.

"Oh yeah, that was definitely why I did it. Because in the face of death and danger, the first thing that comes to my mind is 'I must cuddle with Draco!'" She said impersonating a lovesick girl.

"You sound like Pansy when you do that." He said disgusted.

"Ewww!" The two laughed again when Arra spotted Harry, Ron and Hermione getting into a carriage. "I'll catch up with you later, k?" He nodded and she left.

"Hey Arra. Have a nice ride up?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, it's always nice to see Draco since I hardly ever get to." She said as Ron rolled his eyes. She kicked him in the shin.

"Ouch!"

She smirked. She then noticed Harry, who looked a bit sick. "Harry, are you alright?" She asked with concern.

"He had a bit of a run-in with the dementor on the train." Said a man who joined them in the carriage and handed Harry some chocolate. He looked like hell in Arra's opinion. Like he hadn't slept in days, but oddly enough he was still smiling. For some reason, the man looked a bit familiar to Arra.

"Do I know you?" She asked as the other kids stared at her in confusion.

The man looked at her with quizzical eyes that were impossible to read. For a moment, it looked as if his eyes lit up, like he did recognize her, but it must have just been a trick of the moonlight. "No, I don't believe so." He said. "R. J. Lupin." He said as he held out his hand for a shake.

Arra eyed him up and down and frowned, she was so sure that she knew him from somewhere! "Arra Black." She said returning the gesture. He smiled as the carriage set off towards the castle. As they entered the grounds, heads turned at her presence and Arra could hear hushed conversations pertaining to her.

"Yeah, that's her." A Hufflepuff boy pointed out.

"I heard she's just as bad as him." A second year said knowingly.

"What if she's helping him?" A sixth year asked fearfully

"Damn she's hot!" A fourth year boy said loudly and Arra flashed him a smile. Behind her back, Harry gave the boy a fierce scowl and took Arra's hand to lead her to the castle.

They reached the outside of the Great Hall and the whispers continued.

"Just try to ignore them." Hermione said as Arra growled at a group of Ravenclaws who were standing dangerously close to her.

"That's a bit harder than you would think Hermione." Harry came to Arra's aid. He was plenty used to whispers about him.

"Thank you Harry."

"Miss Black, Miss Granger!" Professor McGonagall's voice rang out above the students. "Can I see the two of you in my office before the feast starts?" She asked while steering them out of the entryway.

They reached her office and Professor McGonagall told Arra to wait outside while she talked to Hermione about her schedule. Arra's back slid down the wall until she was sitting on the ground. She sighed and cupped her chin in her hand while her elbow was resting on her knee. _If everyone keeps up this act of whispering and such, _she thought, _then this is going to be a very long year._

"Arra," Hermione's voice came from the doorway. "McGonagall wants to see you."

Arra nodded and got up from the ground. "Go ahead and go to the feast, I'll meet you there."

Hermione left. "Miss Black, take a seat please." McGonagall gestured to the chair that Hermione had probably just been sitting in. "First off, I would like to welcome you back to Hogwarts." Arra sighed--she knew where this conversation was going. "Second, I would like to offer my condolences for your er, present situation. Involving your father. I want you to know, that no matter what any of the students say to you about it, no one suspects you of any suspicious activities."

"Like letting him into Hogwarts?" Arra asked with a grimace.

"We all know that you would never do a thing like that. Especially since his main target happens to be within these walls--" McGonagall cut off knowing that she had said too much. But it didn't matter, Arra already knew what she was talking about. "I also feel that I should warn you that the dementors might take a certain, uh, liking, to you this year."

"Liking?"

"Because you have the same blood as your father and you resemble him a bit, the dementors could possibly mistake you for him, or his accomplice or such." She tried to explain. Arra looked at her with confusion. "Just best to stay as far away from them as possible." Arra agreed and McGonagall dismissed her to the feast.

As Arra approached the Great Hall with closed doors, she could hear many voices on the other side, the feast had already begun. She brushed her bangs out of her face and fixed her clothes a bit, as they had become a bit rumpled from the train ride. She slowly tried to push one of the doors open so she wouldn't cause a big scene. However, in a big, ancient castle like Hogwarts, it is completely impossible for the giant doors not to creak loud enough that it would most certainly draw everyone's attention.

Arra slipped into the hall and silence covered the room as every single eye was suddenly glued to her.

_Oh yeah, this is _definitely _going to be one loooong year._

**Hope you all liked it. And you all got to see a side of Arra's Slytherin side again. I know she was awfully mean to Pansy, but I just hate Pansy so I had to do it! Haha. Remember to review and I'll make you apple pie. (Sorry, I'm really hungry right now.) :)**


	10. Of Dreams and Drama

**Author's Note: Thanks to all who reviewed! And I have a request. I can't remember what color Malfoy's eyes are in the books. I tried to find it, but I'm having a bit of trouble. I think they might be blue, so that's what color I'm making them. But if you know, can you tell me please? Thanks!**

**Anyways, in this chapter, Arra begins to have more feelings, but are they for Harry? Read and find out! :-)**

**Enjoy! And I don't own Harry Potter.**

As Arra had suspected, it would indeed be a very long year. It seemed as if time was going by slower than frozen molasses. However, much to her delight, the whispers had begun to die down a bit. But other than that, the year hadn't gotten off to a very good start for Arra. Professor Trelawney, the divination teacher, told Harry that he would most certainly die, all because she had seen a stupid dog in his teacup. When Arra looked inside of the cup with the rest of the class, she thought it looked just like a regular dog, kind of like the dog she used to have as a child--Padfoot, or something like that. Also, when Arra pointed that fact out, Trelawney said that Arra would have something to do with the Grim and Harry. This of course did not make Arra happy. First off she was afraid of her dad killing Harry, and now she had to worry about herself doing him in as well! Since that day, like Hermione, Arra hated Trelawney. But that wasn't much of a surprise, Arra hated most of her teachers.

Something else that was new this year was Hagrid. Dumbledore had made him the Care of Magical Creatures teacher this year. But during their first lesson, Arra decided that she didn't care for this course either. It had started off quite exciting though. Hagrid had brought out a few Hippogriffs, and boy were they magnificent. Harry and Arra were both approved by Buckbeak to pet him, and it was actually a lot of fun until Draco was suddenly attacked by the animal! Arra freaked out when she saw her best friend lying on the ground as Buckbeak trampled him. For a fleeting moment when he wasn't moving, her heart skipped a few beats--she thought he was dead. She almost felt tears sting her eyes until he moved and groaned in pain. From behind her, she heard Ron and Harry snickering at him. She rounded on them.

"It's not his fault!" She said.

"It's not Buckbeak's fault either. He didn't try and kill you or me so it must have been Malfoy's fault!" Ron argued.

Arra glanced at the Hippogriff, she did like Buckbeak quite a bit, but she didn't want to admit that it was Draco's fault. "He just must have said something that made him mad. But I'm sure it was just an accident! He didn't mean to insult him." She said more to herself than them.

After that class, nothing that exciting had happened so far. Of course there was that one Defense Against the Dark Arts class where Professor Lupin had them face a boggart. They had entered the room and immediately noticed the wardrobe in the middle of the room that was shaking quite violently. Professor Lupin addressed them and told them about the creature that was occupying the wardrobe. Everyone was extremely interested in what he was saying and was staring at him with full attention. However, Arra was looking at him for another reason. She was so sure that she knew him from somewhere! She hadn't addressed him about it since the carriage ride, but she was sure he was hiding something from her. Because sometimes he saw her staring quizzically at him and he would momentarily flush and catch her eye before averting them and looking everywhere but her on purpose. Arra hadn't gotten a chance to face the boggart that day, as she was in line right behind Harry and Professor Lupin had ended the lesson with him.

Finally they learned of the news that all of the third years became excited about--Hogsmeade. The first visit was to be on Halloween and it seemed as if Ron had been enchanted to talk about it endlessly, much to the dismay of Harry and Arra; neither of them were able to go to Hogsmeade, as it was too _dangerous _what with a killer on the loose and everything.

"Honeydukes should be amazing!" Ron said excitedly as the four friends were sitting on the couch in the common room the night before the trip. Hermione kicked him in the shin. "Ouch! What was that for?!"

Hermione hissed at him and used her eyes to point at Harry and Arra, who were clearly despondent at the fact that they couldn't go with their friends the next day.

"Oh, sorry." Ron said embarrassed at his lack of consideration for his friends.

"It's alright, Ron." Arra said. "It's not like it's your fault that we can't go. I'm sure you had nothing to do with the fact that everyone thinks I'm going to let my father in the school if I leave the grounds for even a second." She scowled.

"They don't think that! They just don't want you to get hurt. And Harry too! They're only looking out for your best interests!" Hermione explained.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Harry said. Arra rolled her eyes.

"I'm going to bed." She said. "Goodnight guys."

"Oh, ok. 'Night." They said as she climbed the stairs to her dormitory. Her two other roommates Lavender and Parvati were already asleep, clearly wanting to be well rested for their trip tomorrow. Arra changed into her pajamas and flopped down on the bed, her angry thoughts towards her father drifting her into sleep…

'_Arra…' a voice said from somewhere in the distance. She whirled around in search of the owner of the voice, but no one was to be found. 'Arra…' it said again, closer now. She was sure she knew the voice from somewhere, she had heard it before, and now it was behind her. She could feel the owner of the voice just meters away from her; she didn't have to see them to know they were there, she just knew. She reached for her wand in her pocket, but found her hand closing on air. Now she was frightened, she had no way to defend herself, or Harry. He wasn't even here, but she knew that if she let this creature pass her, Harry would be in danger. She couldn't let that happen. One last time it called her name, stronger this time, angry. 'Arra!' She reeled around to face her attacker as a large black mass of fur came lunging at her. It's yellow eyes filled with madness as it's jaws snapped wildly at her face. The creature was mere inches from her face, she would surely die now. Another voice came now, Harry's. 'ARRA!'_

Arra bolted upright in bed gasping for air, sweat drenching her body and her clothes. She breathed deeply while attempting to make her heart come back to a normal beating pace. She pinched herself lightly just to make sure she was awake, she'd never had a nightmare that frightening before in her entire life. She carefully lowered herself back onto the mattress, her heart rate slowing slightly. _Whose voice was that at the beginning? I know I know it, but I haven't heard it in years. Not since I was a child. And why was a dog trying to kill me, and Harry too? I've never had a run-in with dogs before, they're always friendly to me. I even had a dog once, and it never even bit me. Come to think of it, my dog sort of looks like the dog from my dream…but that's just a coincidence; it has to be. And nobody is going to kill me, or Harry, or anyone for that matter. Not my dad, not a dog, not anybody! _And with that convincing thought, she went back to a dreamless sleep.

The next morning, the four Gryffindors walked down to the entrance hall, where everyone was meeting in order to go to Hogsmeade. Harry and Arra said their goodbyes to Ron and Hermione when Arra heard a familiar voice from behind her.

"Arra!" Draco said striding towards her.

"Hey, going to Hogsmeade I see?"

"And I see that you're not." He said a bit angry. Not at her, but at the fact that she wasn't going, or wasn't able to. "I was hoping that we could spend some time together, as we never get to anymore."

"I would love to Draco, but you know as well as I that the only way I'm getting out of this castle is if my dad breaks in and takes me himself." She said sadly.

"I'm sure that you can come with me, father will take care of everything if I ask him to."

"You're father hates me."

"But I don't." He added with a dazzling smile. "Oh come on! What's the worst that can happen?" He pleaded taking her hands in his and shaking them a bit like an impatient ten year old.

She laughed at his behavior. "I can't go with you, as much as I want to. But you're more than welcome to stay here with me." She added with hopefulness, even though she already knew his answer.

He made a face. "As much as I would like to do that, I promised mother that I would get her some sweets from Honeydukes, and I don't want to disappoint her." He fibbed.

She smiled. "Liar. But go anyways, don't worry about me."

"I always worry about you Arra." He interrupted. "You're not around for me to look after anymore, and you and I both know that I have plenty of reasons to worry about you." He said with a bit of a serious tone as he looked into her eyes, still holding her hands.

Arra's eyes widened a bit at his kind gesture. She knew that her and Draco were good friends, and that they cared about each other, but as he stared at her with his piercing blue eyes, she knew that his feelings ran a bit deeper. Her stomach did a small flip as she felt blood fill her cheeks. She swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. "Umm, you should go. I mean, everyone is leaving." She removed her hands from his grasp. "Don't want to be left behind. I'll catch up with you later, ok?" She was already walking towards the castle and away from him.

She began to walk down an empty corridor, thinking out loud. "You have got to be kidding me! First, my stomach does tiny backflips when I see Harry, and now it's doing it for Draco too?!" She looked down at her stomach and lightly hit it. "Are you just tumbling for any guy I see? Are you going to do it at the next boy that walks around that corner?!" She stopped talking when she heard footsteps.

"Hi Arra." Neville Longbottom said as he came into view. "Everything alright?" He asked when he saw her anxious face and hand clutching her stomach.

"Fine." She squeaked out as he left. "Oh thank God." She said relieved as she felt no familiar sensation in her abdomen. She started talking to her stomach again, "I'm sorry I said that. Don't be offended, two guys is enough, thanks. And if you start flipping for Longbottom, I'll stop feeding you!" She warned. She looked back up straight with a frown on her face. "What the hell am I doing? I'm talking to my stomach!" She scolded herself. "There is definitely something wrong with me." She started walking towards the library, deciding she just needed some time to think. _'Draco and Harry are both my best friends. _She thought to herself. _I don't want to have those kinds of feelings for either of them, much less both of them! If I could just pick one, that would be a good start. I think I just need a sign or something--_

"Oof!" She said as she walked into a person, as she wasn't watching where she was going.

"Arra, you are clumsier than a drunk hobo." Harry said as Arra looked at the person she ran into.

_Speak of the Devil. _She thought. _Or, at least one of the Devils I suppose._

"Hey Harry." She said trying to sound casual. "What are you doing?"

"Well I was going to go to the library but I don't think I really feel like it. Maybe I'll go visit Hedwig at the Owlery. Care to join me?"

"Yeah, ok." She said a bit tentatively; she wasn't completely sure if she wanted to be alone with him right now. They climbed the stairs to the Owlery in silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts. Arra kept stealing glances at Harry, unbeknownst to him. They finally reached the top and Hedwig immediately swooped down when she saw Harry and pecked him affectionately.

"Hey there Hedwig. Miss me much?" He laughed as the owl continued to peck him.

"I think she likes you just a bit too much." Arra joked as she stroked Hedwig's back as she rested on Harry's arm.

"Well that's no surprise. I'm very likeable." Winking at her with a charming smile.

"Oh don't flatter yourself." She said turning away from him, trying to hide her blushing face.

He faked sadness at her remark. "Why would you say that?" He came striding towards her until he was standing before her. "Don't _you _like me?" He smirked.

Arra laughed nervously, trying to cover up for a smile that just wanted to break out on her face. "Well do you like me?" She said smirking.

"I asked you first." He said still sneering as well while taking a step closer to her. In no time, the space between them had suddenly disappeared and they were just mere inches away from each other.

Fighting the urge to throw her arms around him, Arra forced herself to back away from him all the while trying not to run back to him. And even though this action tore her apart, her signature half-smile smirk never left her face. "I don't feel like answering."

She said nonchalantly as she started petting a tawny school owl.

"Hmmm, interesting." Harry said philosophically as he mockingly stroked his chin. "Are there any inner feelings you would like to share with the class?" He asked, much like a psychiatrist would, as he gestured to the owls around them as the class.

Arra chuckled. "No." She then glanced at her watch. "You know, I actually have somewhere I need to be right now, so I'm going to go, ok?" She lied. "I'll meet up with you later though."

"Oh, ok then. Bye." He said waving her off.

She bounded down the steps at an alarming pace, just incase Harry decided to leave the owlery right after her, she didn't want to have to face him again just yet. As she passed a hallway, a familiar voice called her name from behind her.

"Arra?" Professor Lupin said from an open classroom.

"Oh hello Professor." She said trying to act casual, as she was still a bit flushed from her conversation with Harry.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

"Oh, I'm fine. Just a bit out of breath I suppose. Just came from the owlery."

"I understand. That's quite a walk all the way up there and back. Why don't you come in, I was just about to make some tea." He said smiling.

"Uh, sure." She decided this would be a good time to ask him why he was familiar to her. Maybe he just didn't want to say it because other people were around at the time. She entered his office and marveled at the many objects that were placed around the room.

"Tea?" He offered her a cup filled with the steaming liquid. She said a word of thanks and took the drink.

"You look a bit apprehensive Arra. Anything troubling you?"

"Yes actually," she said placing the cup on the table. "You remember when we were in the carriage, coming up to the school?"

"Yes, our first meeting." He said nodding as he began pouring tea for himself.

"No it wasn't." She said confidently. He stopped making the tea and looked at her with shock.

"What in the world would make you say that?" He said sitting in his chair across from her.

"I'm positive that I know you from somewhere. I knew when I saw you and when I heard your voice. And I know you know me, so you might as well just stop denying it." She raised her voice a bit.

"I assure you Arra, we have never met before." He said plainly.

"Did you know my father?" She asked as the idea hit her.

He choked on his tea that he had been sipping. "What? Where are you getting these ideas?"

"I know I've seen you before, and I'm fairly sure that it was when I was very young. Therefore, it only makes sense that you would know my father as well." She said matter-of-factly. He opened his mouth to say something but no words came out. "Or perhaps you _do _know my father, but you just don't want to admit that you have a past with someone like him, and by default, someone like me?!" She said standing up.

He stood up as well. "I think it's time that you left, Miss Black."

She scowled at him. "I thought that you would be honest with me, unlike everyone else in the world. I'm not a child anymore, I deserve to know the truth!"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you the truth, Arra." He said grimly.

"Try me."

They were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"Come in." Lupin said.

Professor Snape entered and presented a small flask to Lupin.

"Ah, thank you Severus." He said to Snape. "Arra, I think we will have to finish this conversation another time."

She looked at both Professors, unsmiling. "Fine." And with that she left.

***

Arra met up with Harry, Ron and Hermione at the feast, and they told them all about Hogsmeade. Arra had gotten over her daily feelings for Harry and was now able to talk to him normally again. They all ate their full and departed to their dormitory.

"Arra!" Draco's voice called for her. She didn't turn around to talk to him but instead urged her friends forward.

"Don't you want to talk to Malfoy?" Ron asked confused.

"No. Let's just go." She said shortly as her friends looked at each other, confused at her odd behavior.

They reached Gryffindor tower and were met with a large crowd.

"Why isn't anyone going in?" Ron asked with an annoyed voice.

"Let me through!" Came the voice of Dumbledore as he pushed through the students.

"What's going on?" Arra asked.

"The Fat Lady! She's gone!" Someone shouted.

"Professor McGonagall, alert the ghosts and the portraits to keep an eye out for her, we must find her!"

"Good luck with that!" The sing song voice of Peeves came ringing through the crowds.

"What do you mean Peeves? Did you see her, do you know who did this?" He asked calmly but urgently.

"She's quite a mess you know. But I suppose you would be too, your Headship, if the same happened to you. He got a bit angry, when she wouldn't let him in. Nasty temper he's got, that Sirius Black."

Everyone gasped and started frantically looking around. And before she even knew what she was doing, Arra was running. Running away from everyone, everything, not even knowing or caring where she was going. Just going away.

**Hope you all enjoyed it! Today, for those of who review, I have triple chocolate cake! :)**


	11. Discovery

**I'm back! And I apologize for the delay. I just started school last week and had to write an essay. One week of school and they've already got us doing major projects! I swear, my teacher is possessed by Professor Snape. **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! And thanks to those of you who answered my question about Draco's eyes. I don't know why I couldn't remember they were silver! Haha. Also, I'm changing the timing on some stuff in the story. Just pretend that Harry had gotten the Marauder's Map earlier. It's not going to screw anything up though, so don't fret. **

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

At the sound of her father's name, Arra's feet took control of her and fought their way through the crowd and away from everything. Before she was completely out of earshot, she heard Dumbledore order everyone to the Great Hall, so she knew to stay away from there. Her legs kept going, even when confused voices of friends called after her in concern. It was like her mind had shut down and transferred the decision making process to her lowest limbs. She ran, and ran, and ran all the while angry tears flowing freely down her face, but she didn't know why. She felt like she didn't know anything at the moment. She turned down a corridor somewhere at the end of the castle and came face to face with a dead end and a brick wall. She continued to run until she reached it, not fully realizing what would happen if she did. Her body slammed into the concrete with full force and the impact threw her limp body onto the floor.

She hit the ground with a thud and the wind was knocked from her chest immediately. Her eyes grew wide as she realized her previous action, then cringed in pain when she felt it run through her body like an electric shock. Her hand slowly came up to her head where she had collided violently with the solid floor. She winced when her fingers came in contact with the back of her head and she pulled them away quickly. She groaned when she saw them covered with red, sticky liquid that was flowing freely from her open wound.

She looked around in confusion, where was she? She didn't recognize this part of the castle. She was in an empty corridor with a large window that looked over the lake. She slowly got up from the floor, which was a bit difficult, as she was a bit woozy from her injury and loss of blood. She leaned on the windowsill for support as she gazed out on the landscape. Her eyes fell on the Forbidden Forrest and she sighed as she saw the tops of trees sway in the wind. About a hundred birds then suddenly took flight from them as the sudden gust must have scared them. She felt jealous of the creatures, as they had the ability to leave at their own will, just go wherever they want without a second thought, and nobody could stop them. Her envious eyes followed them through the sky as they flew overhead the castle to a point where she could no longer see them. She turned around quickly as if expecting to see them again, but instead came face to face with Professor Lupin.

"You're a fast runner, you know. If the family business of murdering doesn't work out for you, you should really take up Olympic sprinting." He joked with a soft smile.

Arra didn't laugh, or smile. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to find you, obviously. You gave us quite a scare back there, just running away like that."

"How did you know where I was? I don't even know where I am!" She said gesturing to the unfamiliar setting.

"I recently confiscated a rather interesting map of Hogwarts from a student that aided me in finding you." He said with a smile.

She turned back to the window. "So, what's going on down there?"

"Dumbledore has assembled all of the students, save for you, in the Great Hall for the night while all of the teachers, save for me, search for our intruder." He explained as he came to stand next to her and gaze out the window.

"So he really is here then?" She asked with mild interest.

"It would seem so. And I am a bit amazed you're so comfortable being out here in the castle, in an unfamiliar area, unprotected, with a killer within the same walls as you." He said with surprise.

She shrugged. "I'm not scared of him."

"Why aren't you afraid?"

"Why aren't _you _afraid?" She asked skeptically as she turned to stare at him.

"How do you know I'm not scared?" He asked folding his arms across his chest staring down at her with a similar look to hers.

"I'm a very perceptive 13 year old." She answered simply.

"That you are." He agreed.

"So, how about we continue that conversation we were having earlier today?" She suggested with a hint of hopefulness.

"No. I'm afraid that wouldn't be a good idea."

"Why not?!" She flared. "What bad could come from you telling me the truth?! I deserve to know!"

"I know you do, Arra. But I fear that it will make you angry."

"I don't think I can get any angrier than I am right now." She said.

Lupin sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "Fine. But you must keep this information to yourself, no matter what."

"Ok, I will."

He looked at her with serious eyes and said with a stern voice, "Your father is innocent."

Arra felt like she had been slapped in the face. "What?"

"He was framed. Everything you know is a lie."

"H-h-how is that even possible? He killed those people, he killed his friends, Harry's parents! Peter Pettrigrew!"

"Peter Pettigrew is alive."

The familiar slap in her face sensation came back again. "That's not possible! How do you know?"

"I suspected your father's innocence for a while, but recent information has showed me that Peter Pettigrew is alive, and he is here, in the castle. And if you reach down deep inside your head, you will remember the truth. You were just a baby, but you're a witch for God's sake! Just try to remember something, anything!" He placed his hands on Arra's shoulders and gently shook her. "Don't you see? We must find him! Pettigrew! If we show everyone the truth, your father will be free!" He said urgently.

"I-I don't believe you." She said as she wriggled out of his grasp. "You're lying! You are probably working with my father, and you're lying so I will help you too! But I won't!" She yelled walking away quickly.

"Arra! Please listen to me!"

"NO!" She shouted as she ran away. She heard a scuttling sound like tiny claws on the floor as she saw Ron's rat Scabbers scampering away from her. She figured he had been running away from Crookshanks again, and that he would find his way back. She ventured around the unfamiliar part of the castle until she finally found an area that she recognized. Her head with filled with questions. _What was Lupin talking about? There's no way that Sirius Black is innocent. Peter Pettigrew gave up his life to save Harry's parents, but that murderous raving lunatic had to kill him too! He's responsible for everything. Then why would Lupin make up a story like that? I like Lupin, I wouldn't have suspected him to be the accomplice to a criminal, but I suppose you just can't trust anyone these days._ She yawned as she glimpsed out of a nearby window. Through the tops of the trees she saw the days first sunlight shine upon the castle, which told Arra that she had been up all night. She figured that her father had not been found within the castle, or else there would have been quite a commotion. Her stomach started to rumble with hunger as she realized that she was in need of some breakfast.

"Good morning." A voice said from behind her.

She jumped and instinctively placed her hand over her heart. "Oh my goodness, you scared me Professor Dumbledore!" She said as she turned to see the headmaster standing near her.

"I'm glad to have found you, Miss Black. I was quite worried after you left."

"Yeah, I just didn't want to be around everyone with all of this hullabaloo."

"Understandable. But I also wonder why you don't be with your friends during this hard time. I'm sure they will be supportive of whatever you need to talk about." He said with a knowing look. Arra frowned a bit. It was as if he knew she was thinking about the information Lupin had told her.

"I highly doubt that Professor. I'm not sure anyone would want to listen to me. I'm the daughter of a criminal, remember? The criminal who just broke into Hogwarts and now everyone thinks I'm his main accomplice." She said with a sad sigh.

"_Everyone_ thinks that?"

"Well, not _everyone. _But definitely majority of the school." She said trying to defend herself.

"Do the opinions of strangers matter to you?"

"No…maybe? Oh, I don't know!" She said a bit confused.

"Will your friends think of you differently?"

"No." She said confidently.

"Well then I see nothing for you to worry about." He said simply. "As a wise man once said, 'Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind.'"

She smiled. "Thanks professor. I feel kind of better."

"Good, because I'm afraid I have a bit of bad news."

Her face fell. "Did you catch him? Is something wrong? What happened?" She asked quickly.

"No, no, no, my dear. You have a, er, visitor." He said.

"A visitor? Who?"

"That would be me." The voice of Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic came from a nearby hallway.

She glowered at him. The Minister was possibly the one man in the world that she hated just as much as her father, if not more.

"Oh. You." She said with disgust. "What do you want? Come to take me away again until the matter is resolved?" She asked rudely.

"No." He said trying to stay calm. He hated how this 13 year old child could aggravate him so. "But we, the ministry, are here to ask you for your help."

"My help? What could measly old me possibly do for the great and all powerful ministry?" She asked sarcastically.

"We would like to work with you in order to retrieve information about your father."

"Information? Like from me? I can tell you now I don't remember anything from when I was with him. I was just a baby."

"We knew that you wouldn't remember, but the memories are still preserved in your mind somewhere, and we would like to find them." He said looking at the floor as if he thought Arra might explode.

"What?! You want to do a bunch of spells and probe around in my brain just so you can try and find a bunch of old memories from when I was a baby?! I thought the ministry was mad, but now I'm convinced you're all of your rockers!" She yelled as she walked away.

"Please Miss Black, the more information we have, the closer we are to catching him! Don't you want your life back to the way it was? Don't you want him back in prison? Don't you want Harry to be safe?"

She stopped. She could almost hear a slimy grin spread across Fudge's face as he knew he had gotten her. She turned around with one of the meanest scowls she had ever delivered. "Fine. For Harry. Not for you."

"Thank you. Now if you will follow Professor Dumbledore and I to the Hospital Wing, we will begin." He said already walking away.

She sighed heavily and Professor Dumbledore placed an encouraging hand on her shoulder. They trudged up to the Hospital and along the way they passed the Great Hall. The doors were still tightly closed, but she could hear some faint rustling, as if just a few people were stirring. How she wished she could be like them for once. She wished she could be in there chatting about the excitement of a mysterious killer within the school. She wanted to be normal, instead of having to have her brain probed by the ministry. And she wanted a family that she could go home to every once and a while, instead of having to stay with friends. Don't get it wrong though, she loved the Weasleys and Grangers as if they were her family and she was sure they loved her equally but, it just wasn't the same as having your own family. Nothing can replace that.

The all entered the Hospital Wing and Arra noticed a comfortable looking chair sitting in the middle of the room and an official-looking man standing next to it. She supposed he had been here for a while, as the ministry was probably praying for her to say yes to their request.

"Arra…uh, Miss Black," Fudge corrected him as Arra glared at him when he called her by her first name. He doesn't deserve to call her that. "This is Vincent Martin, and he will be performing the necessary spells for today. Now the way that this is going to work is that Martin will do the spell, but you will be the only one who sees the memories. Afterwards, you will remember all of them, so you need to tell us what you see. This is very important."

"Let's just get this over with." She said flopping down in the chair.

Fudge nodded at Martin and he went to stand behind the chair and took out his wand. He began to wave his wand around with complicated movements and muttered some words that Arra couldn't understand. She suddenly felt a buzzing sensation in her head before her eyes involuntarily shut and thousands of images that she had never seen before came flashing before her.

Her mother holding her in the hospital after she was born with her father…Her family dog, Padfoot…Her family visiting some friends who also had a child her age, a boy with black hair who looked exactly like his father, except for his eyes…Her father and James Potter talking and laughing together…Her mothers death a few days later…A familiar looking man giving her father as a hug as he mourned his wife's death…the same familiar man with her dad and James Potter, '_Lupin!'_ _Arra thought between memories. 'He was the man in the picture, and I remember him from when I was a baby! He was my dad's best friend!'…_James and her dad talking about Voldemort and his uprising, about how he would likely be coming after the Potters…The night they died, and her father took her away to Grimmauld Place… her father talking to her, even though he knew he couldn't understand her… _"Arra, I want you to know that I am innocent. No matter what anyone says, I want you to hear it from me that I am innocent. I would never hurt my friends, I was framed. By Peter Pettigrew. It's his fault that everything is happening. Please don't hate me. Someday, I will find you again and fix this all."…_

And suddenly she was pulled back to reality, but kept her eyes closed, the images from her past still flashing.

"Arra?" Came Professor Dumbledore's worried voice when they all noticed she had come back to consciousness. "Are you alright?"

"I REMEMBER!" She shouted as she opened her eyes to see and anxious minister waiting.

"What? What do you remember!" He said impatiently.

"I, uhhhh…" She stopped as she remembered what Lupin had told her. '_You must keep this information to yourself, no matter what.'_ "I didn't see anything that would be beneficial to you." She finally said.

Fudge's anxious grin wiped off his face immediately. "What?! Nothing? You didn't see anything?"

"Would you like to hear about my first Christmas?" She asked sarcastically as she stood up from the chair. "I received footy pajamas!" She said with fake excitement.

"Miss Black, you didn't see anything that could be useful to us catching him?"

"Nope. I suggest you start working on plan B, Minister." She said with a smirk as he walked out of the Hospital Wing with Martin hot on his heels.

Arra let out a small laugh. Either from relief, or from realization, she didn't know.

"Something funny, my dear?" Dumbledore asked with a smile.

"Oh, no. Just glad he's gone." She lied.

"Hmmm, I'm getting the feeling that there's something your not telling him." He questioned with a twinkle in his eye.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, sir." She said with a small smirk as she excused herself. There was someone that she needed to talk to.

**Ah-ha! I love throwing twists into the story, they're so much fun! I think it will be interesting to see how Arra reacts to everything now because of what she found out. Hope you all are enjoying reading this story as much as I am! **

**That quote that Dumbledore says is from Dr. Seuss. I freaking love that guy and I just felt like it would work there. **

**After reviewing, today I have ice cream for you! (Because High Queen Crystal hates chocolate. :-) **


	12. Marriage Deals

**Woohoo! I return once again. And I apologize for the delay…again. My Nazi-English Teacher is crazy about these essays! Had to write another. But I did receive the second highest grade in the class. Haha, I sound like Hermione. **

**I know that there was no Harry or Draco in the last chapter, so I've included them both in this one. **

**I don't own Harry Potter.**

**ENJOY!**

Arra left the Hospital Wing with thoughts buzzing around in her head madly. Could Lupin have been telling the truth? Her memories proved it, but for some reason she was still doubting them a bit. Her memories couldn't have been tampered with, so she was sure that they were most definitely real, but was their content true? There was only one way she could find out.

"Professor Lupin!" She shouted as she barged into the classroom. "Professor, I need to talk to you now!" She said still yelling loudly.

"What?" He answered as he bustled out of his office.

"I think I believe you." She said finally lowering her voice.

He blinked in surprise. "Well why the sudden change of heart?"

"The minister was just here, and they asked me to participate in an experiment to see if they could extract anything from my past about my father. The spell they did made me remember everything from the first year of my life, when I was with him. And, what I saw…" She trailed off as she fondly remembered the memories from a happier time. "They just seemed so real, and true. And my dad told me himself what you told me, so I think I believe you." She said honestly with a shrug.

He stared at her for a while, as if trying to take everything into account. And then his face split into the biggest grin she had ever seen on his face as he started laughing heartily. Arra couldn't help but join him in the giggles, this was the happiest she had felt in a long time.

They got to talking about everything, her father, her past, his friendship with Lupin, and his wrongful arrest. Everything was making so much sense, and all of her questions she used to have were being answered in mere minutes.

"Does my aunt Bellatrix know any of this?" She asked suddenly.

"I think she knows some things. She knows that you're father was never a supporter of Voldemort, but I don't know if she knows he didn't commit murder. But I'm not surprised that she tried to turn you against him from the beginning. Bellatrix hates your father, and I'm sure she wanted you to feel the same." He replied.

Arra nodded. It did make sense for her Aunt to do something like that. Ever since Arra was a child, she only had ever heard negative things about her dad. "I take it you knew my mother too then?"

His eyes widened, he obviously wasn't expecting that question. "Yes, yes I did. She was a wonderful woman Arra. I'm sure you would have loved her. She loved you, very much." He said with a kind smile. "She was especially kind-hearted, but also fierce. Much like you are. When it came to her friends, she would do anything. Especially for Sirius." He added in a laughing tone. "From the moment your parents met, everyone could tell that they were made for each other, but the two of them constantly denied it."

Arra sniffed as she felt tears sting her eyes when she heard how similar she was to her mother. She wiped her nose with her sleeve and took another drink of tea as they continued to talk about her mom. She had never had anyone to tell her anything about her mum, as Bellatrix forbade the subject of her mother.

"Oh! One more question," she suddenly said when she noticed the time and decided that she should be getting back to the tower. "What about that dog I used to have?"

For some reason Lupin started laughing extremely hard at this point. But Arra laughed too after she learned the answer.

***

Arra entered the Gryffindor common room through the portrait hole and found it packed with students. All of them gave her their full attention when they saw her. She stared back at their wide eyes, some of them contained fear, while others, curiosity. But one pair in particular stood out to her above the rest. Almond shaped, green eyes behind round glasses looked at her with relief at her appearance. Arra smiled as she slowly walked towards her best friend, who was with Ron and Hermione in the far back corner of the room. Harry got up as well and enveloped her in his arms when she reached him. His strong hold around her made Arra's head spin with pure happiness. This was her favorite place in the world. She let out a blissful sigh, which Harry mistook for sorrow and pulled away from her. She reluctantly loosened her hold until just her hands were around his neck and his hands were on her sides with their arms just slightly bent.

"It's good to see you." He said and Arra knew that what he meant was that he was glad she wasn't dead. "I was so worried about you."

She smiled at his concern and the fact that he cared for her, even if it wasn't equal with the care she felt for him. "I'm fine." She smiled as she wrinkled her nose a bit. She patted him on the cheek, in a Mrs. Weasley like fashion and they shared a small chuckle. They let go of each other and moved over to the table with Ron and Hermione, who were in a heated discussion.

"Ronald! There is no way that he could have broken into the castle! I'm telling you, none of those theories could possibly work!" She spat at him.

"How do you know he didn't apparate in?" He refuted.

"Goodness, I really am the only person in school to read _Hogwarts, A History_!" She said exasperated.

"Hermione, I think you're the only person in the _world _to read that book." Arra joked.

"Arra!" Ron and Hermione said together when they noticed her presence. "How are you?" Hermione asked with concern.

"I'm fine. I think I just needed some time to think." _And find out that my entire life is a lie, _she thought to herself.

"Well, they didn't catch him, but they're pretty sure that he has left the castle. So I don't think we have anything to worry about anymore." Hermione answered comfortingly.

"Hermione, he broke in once, I'm sure he can do it again!" Ron said.

"Oh, I'm not worried." Arra said truthfully.

"Why not?"

"Even if he does break in, what's he going to do? Try to kill us all with a hundred teachers and dementors sweeping the grounds every six seconds? Ha! Good luck with that!" She said laughing.

"Ooookay." Ron said slowly as he looked at Arra with confusion.

"Honestly guys, don't worry about it. And anyways, if he does break in and tries to kill you," she said as she got up from her chair, "I'll protect you." She balled her hands into fists and jumped into a fighting stance. She laughed, "Well, I haven't eaten since last night's feast, and I'm SOOOO hungry! I'm going to the kitchens."

"Ok, bye." They said as she left.

She entered the kitchens and was immediately greeted by the many house elves who were impatiently awaiting her orders. She politely asked for whatever was leftover from the feast last night, and they promptly served it to her. She thanked them and dug into her mashed potatoes. She finished off her miniature smorgasbord with a large piece of banana cream pie with whipped cream and coconut. She left the kitchen with a very full stomach and was walking down the hall when she heard a voice behind her.

"Arra." Draco called.

She froze and slowly turned around to meet him. There was no way she could get out of it now. "Hey." She said casually.

He pulled her into a hug and she couldn't help but throw her arms around his neck. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist as the other slowly traveled up to the back of her neck. She could feel his fingers playing with her hair a little bit and she let out a shaky breath. "When we were all called to the Great Hall, I didn't see you. I thought that maybe you were…" He trailed off as he tightened his hold around her.

"I'm fine." She said with a muffled voice. Her face was buried into his shoulder, and much to her disappointment, she was enjoying this moment quite a bit.

He pulled away from her and the two set off for a nearby empty classroom, so they could sit down and talk in a comfortable setting. Arra jumped onto a desk as Draco started walking around looking at the many items around the room. "So where did you go? Last night while everyone else was hiding out from the killer?"

_He's not a killer!_ She wanted to scream at him. But she knew that doing that would only cause more problems. People would mistake her for an accomplice, and then she wouldn't be able to help her father.

"The idea of sitting in the Great Hall and listening to whispers about me and my involvement didn't seem appealing at the time. I was with Dumbledore and the Minister."

"The Minister?" He asked with a confused look. "What was he doing here?"

She grimaced, "He wanted information from me about dear old dad."

"Did you give him anything?" He asked with interest.

"No. I have nothing to give. I haven't seen my father since I was a baby. And besides, if I did know anything, Cornelius Fudge would be the last person I would ever tell."

"Honestly Arra, I don't know why you hate him so much. He's not that bad."

"That's because you're Draco Malfoy, son of Lucius Malfoy. Nobody--not even the minister--would deny you anything your little heart desired!" She explained.

"Hey! That's no excuse. You gave up your title and power within the ministry when you went to Gryffindor! If you would have stayed where you belonged, then I'm sure your life would be a lot better." He argued back.

"Better?" She asked incredulously as she got up from the desk and walked towards him a bit threateningly. "What do you mean _better_?"

"You'd still have somewhere to live because Bellatrix wouldn't have disowned you. You would still have power and people who could get things done for you. Your father would probably be back in Azkaban by now because someone would actually care whether or not you survived!" He yelled as he counted off the reasons on his fingers.

SMACK. Arra's hand came flying up and slapped Malfoy across the face harder than a freight train. He cringed in pain and held his cheek in pain. She pointed an accusing finger at him and said in a harsh voice, "Don't you _dare _say nobody cares about me. And don't you _ever_ say that I made the wrong decision. Gryffindor is the BEST thing that ever happened to me!" And she stormed out of the classroom.

She took off down a corridor and soon ended up outside of the castle. She took a seat under a large shady tree near the black lake and gazed out at the landscape. Soon after she saw someone sit down next to her.

"Stop scowling. You'll get wrinkles." Harry laughed as he gently shoved her.

"No I won't. Natural ageless beauty runs in my family." She said with fake conceitedness. "And so does scowling, for your information, Potter."

"So does Slytherin, but I see you've overcome that aspect of your past, Black."

She smiled and looked out at the lake again. They were both silent for a few minutes before Arra randomly said, "Do you think I should change my name?"

Harry frowned in puzzlement. "What?"

"My name." She explained. "I think I want to change it."

"Why? Arra Black is fine."

"It's the Black part I'm not liking so much. People form preconceived notions of me before they even know me. And it's not fair."

"Yeah, I know what you mean." Harry agreed. "Isn't it really hard to change your name though?"

"I don't know." She said after she thought about it.

"You should change your name to Potter!" He said suddenly with excitement like a child.

She laughed. "Why Potter?"

"One, Potter is a really cool name. Two, everyone knows the name Potter, but my name doesn't come along with murderer baggage." They both laughed at Arra's expense. "And three, it would be easy to change your name to Potter."

"No it wouldn't! I would still have to do all the other official stuff just for any other name."

"I meant that we could just get married." He suggested with a smirk.

Her stomach did a flip as she quickly imagined herself married to Harry. "You wish."

"What? Most people would kill to marry me!" He said pompously.

"Maybe someday." She smiled, going along with his joke.

"Ok, well how about this, if neither of us are married by the time we're…30, then we'll marry each other." He said a bit more seriously.

She looked at him. "Fine." She held out her hand to shake and seal the deal.

"Arra Potter does sound better than Arra Black anyways." Harry said.

She laughed. "Well, seeing as how our wedding won't be for another few years, let's come up with a name for me for now."

"Weasley?"

"No. That's Ron's name."

"Granger?"

"I'm not marrying Hermione!"

"Well last names are boring!" He complained like a bored ten year old.

"Then change my whole name."

"Bertha McGrady."

"Eww!" She said as she turned to face Harry.

"Mildred."

"Next!" She shouted as the name inventing turned into a fun game to pass the time. After many different names they were still having a fun time and laughing together.

"Emily." Arra said.

"No, you're too weird for a name so common. You'd be more like a Willow."

"I don't want to be named after a tree!" She fought back. "I know I'm weird, but not weird enough for 'Willow'."

"Well, then I think I might be out of suggestions."

"I really like the name Kylie." She said when she thought about it.

Harry stroked his chin in mock deep thought. "Nice. But it doesn't really go with Potter." She shrugged.

"Keep in mind my name is only going to be Potter if I'm not married by the time I'm 30." She reminded him.

"You won't be." He grinned.

She smacked him on the arm. "What makes you think that?"

"You would be a horrible wife Arra. You can't cook, you can't clean, you're spoiled rotten, and nobody but me would be able to put up with you for their whole life." He said.

"You make it sound like marrying me is torture!"

"I've always been one for a challenge." He grinned as he waggled his eyebrows at her.

She giggled. "I think you secretly want to marry me, and you're just trying to claim me before someone else does." She joked.

"Maybe I do," he said as he gave her a seductive glare, "maybe I don't."

She felt blood rush up to her face and she had to turn back to the lake in order to hide her grin. "You know, now that I think about it, Arra Black isn't that bad after all."

He looked at her with a sincere smile. "Yeah. Arra Black is just perfect."

**FLUFF! I thought that since I didn't add any Harry in the previous chapter, he should get a significant amount of time in this one. **

**Hope you all like it. I am quite fond of this chapter to be honest. **

**By the way, I made Arra like the name Kylie because that's my real name. And I do like my name quite a bit. :-)**

**Today, after reviewing, I have cupcakes with sprinkles!**


	13. Maps and Pasts

**Hello all! Sorry for the massive delay. I just started a new job and my hours have been insane. But worry not, I will continue to update as soon as possible. **

**Thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter! I'm so glad everyone is loving this so far!**

**ENJOY!**

**I don't own HP**

Weeks passed and soon enough it was the weekend for Harry's Quidditch match against Hufflepuff. Arra came down to the Great Hall and noticed Harry, Ron and Hermione sitting at the Gryffindor table. A waving hand somewhere off to the left caught her attention and her eyes followed it to Draco Malfoy. He was trying to call her over with a desperate expression on his face. She scowled at him, turned on her heel, and sat next to her Gryffindor friends with her back facing the Slytherin boy.

"Hey guys." She said as she poured herself some coffee.

"Hey Arra." Ron said who was sitting across from her. He craned his neck and looked at something behind her. "I see you and Malfoy are still fighting."

"Yep. He keeps trying to talk to me but I'm still so angry that I don't think I have anything to say to him."

"He's looking at you." Ron answered. Arra shrugged.

"He's always looking at you Arra." Harry pointed out. "He stares at you constantly. I don't really like the way he looks at you." He said and Arra blushed at his protective nature.

Hermione glanced at her watch. "Harry, eat up, the match is going to start soon!" And he began to shovel food down his throat. The four of them finished and walked outstide and were instantly greeted by a violent rainstorm, complete with excess thunder and lightning.

Harry groaned and Arra gave him an encouraging pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry Harry, you'll do fine. I'm sure that you can catch the snitch faster that stupid Hufflepuff seeker no matter what weather you're playing in."

"Cedric Diggory?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, him!" Arra said as she remembered his name. "Cedric," she spat out, "That sounds like a wimpy name. I bet he's super scrawny, weak, and his mum probably writes his name on his trousers." She laughed.

Harry gave a weak smile at her attempt to make him feel better. "Actually, that's him, over there." He said pointing.

Arra looked and saw a tall, muscular, and devilishly handsome boy. He noticed her looking and flashed a dazzling, flirtatious smile at her. She smiled back and then turned back to Hermione. "Whoa! That is one fine hunk-o-man if I do say so myself." Hermione nodded in agreement. Harry and Ron frowned.

"You're not helping." Harry said with a scowl.

"Oh, sorry." She apologized and they continued down to the pitch. Harry soon left them and Ron and Hermione became immersed in an argument concerning the attractiveness and Quidditch skills of Cedric Diggory. Arra was walking in silence, thinking to herself when she was suddenly pulled away from her friends with a jerk on her arm. She spun around quickly, preparing to fight off her attacker when she came face to face with Draco.

"Oh. It's you." She said with disgust.

"I need to talk to you." He said urgently.

"I don't need to talk to you." She said trying to walk away. He grabbed her upper arms and gently pushed her up against the nearest wall, so that she would be forced to listen to him.

_Whoa, he's strong._ She thought to herself. _I bet his muscles are huge when he takes his shirt off…Wait! Stop it, Arra! Stop it! _She scolded herself for thinking about him in a non-hateful way. _You're mad at him. Stop thinking about him. _"What do you want?" She asked out loud, going back to her angry tone.

"I'm sorry." He said sincerely. She looked at him expectantly.

"And?"

He groaned. She knew that apologizing was the one thing that Draco hated doing above almost anything else.

"And I didn't mean that no one cares about you. A lot of people care about you. Potter, Weasel, and Granger do. Dumbledore does. And I do. A lot. I need you back in my life Arra. I'm sorry for the things that I said to you, because I never meant to hurt you. You know me too well to think that I would purposely hurt you." He explained and Arra found herself hanging on his every word. "I love you Arra…" He said and her heart skipped a beat, "…like a sister." Her heart came crashing back down again.

She frowned. "Fine."

He doubled back, "Fine? Like you forgive me?"

"Fine." She said again as she walked away towards the pitch with her mind buzzing. _I thought I had knocked him out of the picture, but then he just comes waltzing back in! And I thought he liked me too, for sure, but now I just…don't know. _She soon found Hermione sitting among the other Gryffindors in the stands. She sat down and started to drum her fingers against the wooden armrest. Hermione's eyes darted back and forth between Arra and her energetic hand before asking, "Arra, is something wrong?"

Arra huffed and then turned to her. "What do you do when you like two guys, and they both act like they like you back, but then one says he loves you like a sister?" She asked quickly.

Hermione blinked. "I'm not the best person for you to talk to about relationship advice." And she turned back to the game.

Arra sighed and turned away as well. The topic of boys and relationships had always been a touchy one for the two girls, especially when it concerned Arra, due to the fact that Arra had already had two boyfriends and multiple offers, while Hermione had had nothing. Arra had once dated a boy over the summer she had met while staying at Ron's house, and the other was a fourth year Ravenclaw that Arra had gone out with during their second year. Neither had lasted long but Arra and the others could definitely see Hermione's jealousy, even though she acted supportive of Arra in front of them.

"I would say just ask him." Hermione said suddenly.

Arra looked surprised. "Huh?"

"The guy. Ask him if he likes you. And then decide which one you want more. That would be the logical thing to do." Hermione said without looking away from the game.

Arra smiled. "Thanks." She threw her arms around Hermione in a violent hug and Hermione patted her on the back, while still not taking her eyes off the game. She then began to look around with interest, as there was nothing too terribly exciting happening in the game at that point. Her eyes traveled along the stands, in search of something interesting. At games, she sometimes enjoyed what she called 'people watching' in which she would look around and see what random strangers were doing. It was always fun to find a couple randomly making out, or someone inconspicuously picking their nose, or something along those lines. She saw Draco, who was laughing with Crabbe and Goyle, more than likely making fun of Harry for something. He noticed her looking and waved with a warm smile. She returned it and felt a blush grace her cheeks, thankfully, the rainstorm hid it from his view. She looked up to the very top of the stands and noticed--a dog? What was a dog doing here? She narrowed her eyes and saw it more clearly. It was a big black animal, with long shaggy hair and big bright eyes, that were staring right at her. Her eyes widened, _Is that dog looking at me? _She thought. _Wait a minute…OH MY GOD! _She screamed internally as she stood up suddenly when she recognized the dog--but she wasn't alone.

Almost the rest of the audience suddenly shot up to a standing position and Arra drew her attention back to the game. She looked up in the sky and felt as though her internal organs had suddenly melted and suddenly evaporated from her body--Harry had fallen off of his broomstick and was now hurtling towards the ground.

"HARRY!" She shouted as loud as she could over the thunder and rain. She jumped up and leaned over the edge of the railing as if she were going to catch him, without even thinking, just shouting at him. Hermione noticed her and grabbed the back of her jacket to prevent her from falling over the edge and joining Harry. Arra didn't even register the fact that she was an inch away from suicide, she could only watch with wide horrified eyes as her best friend crashed onto the ground. "HARRY!" She yelled again as she took off running towards the staircase, practically throwing people out of her way with all of her adrenaline. She took the stairs by threes and never stopped running, even when she was smashing into random strangers, she just violently shoved them out of her way. She must have been running fast, for she reached Harry before even the rest of his Quidditch team.

She skidded to a stop on her knees and flipped Harry over so that she could look at his face. She held his head between her hands and called his name over and over. Before she knew it, tears were streaming down her face and landing on Harry's Quidditch uniform. The team, Ron and Hermione, Dumbledore, and most everyone else soon joined the two on the ground. Dumbledore knelt on the other side of Harry and started muttering spells and shouting orders at other people. Arra didn't hear anything until she felt a strong pair of arms lift her from the ground and away from Harry. She fought hard, but the person was just too strong for her. When she saw that Harry was being taken to the school, she slowly started to come back to reality. She noticed the person holding her and whipped around to see--Draco. He looked at her, and she knew that in his head, he was laughing at Harry's misfortune, but he put a somber face on for her. She threw her arms around him in a tight hug and he wrapped her in his strong embrace. She sobbed into his shoulder and clutched at his shirt. He ran his hand through her hair and whispered sweet condolences in her ear. They stood there in the midst of the madness, letting the rain drench them and wash away their previous argument. Even though she was devastated about Harry, Arra couldn't help but hold onto to Draco like he was her life support. As someone rushed past them, they knocked into Arra, which caused the two to break apart from each other. She looked up at his beautiful face and drenched platinum blonde hair, which was hanging down in his face. It made him look absolutely sexy, to be honest. Without his hair slicked back and his clean and proper look, he seemed more dangerous, and appealing. She reached up and took a separated piece of his hair between her fingers and tried to put it back into its normal slicked-back place, but it just popped back out. She giggled and they looked into each others eyes once more, as if trying to communicate their feelings telepathically.

"Arra!" Hermione shouted and the auburn-hair girl turned to where her friend and Ron were standing on a hill, waving for her to join them, as they were likely going to see Harry. Arra turned back to Draco and he gave her a small smile as if to say "go ahead." She smiled back and ran to meet with Ron and Hermione.

"Have you heard anything?" She asked when she reached them and they began to briskly walk towards the Hospital Wing.

"Nothing new. He was still alive when he hit the ground." Hermione said in a trembling voice. "I suppose Dumbledore slowed his fall or something. We were trying to tell you when we were down there, but you weren't really listening."

Arra let out a breath she was holding. So he was alive…for now. But she had to stay positive, Dumbledore was sure to fix Harry up. "Do you think he'll be ok?" She asked tentatively.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other, then back at Arra before Ron answered. "Harry's been through worse than this before. He can handle pretty much anything." He said confidently. "After all, he is the 'Boy-Who-_Lived_'." He said with a smirk as the three of them thought fondly of their famous friend.

While walking, she remembered what she had saw during the game and quickly turned back to the pitch to find it. But the dog was gone.

"Something wrong, Arra?" Ron asked.

"No," she said turning back around. "I just thought I saw someone I recognized."

For the rest of the journey, the three friends walked in silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts. They waited outside of the Hospital Wing for what seemed like forever until Professor McGonagall came outside and granted them entry. Arra walked inside and her eyes were immediately drawn to Harry's lifeless body sprawled out on one of the beds. Her feet felt as heavy as lead as they dragged her towards him. Hermione and Ron took two chairs on either side of his bed while Arra sat on the edge of it. With a trembling hand, she slid it into his and held it. It was still warm, so she knew that blood was at least running through his body, and that thought comforted her. She gently squeezed his hand, as if to let him know that she was there with him. And it may have just been her imagination, but she could have sworn there was the smallest squeeze back from him to her. The doors suddenly opened and the rest of Harry's team gathered around the bed as well.

"How is he?" Oliver asked with concern.

"Madam Pomfrey says he'll be just fine, rest is all he needs." Hermione answered.

All of the team suddenly dropped their tensed shoulders, for they were all preparing themselves for the worst news possible.

"Lucky the ground was so soft." George said.

"I thought he was dead for sure." Fred added.

"But he didn't even break his glasses." Alicia pointed out.

Arra suddenly felt some movement from Harry as she turned to him just in time to see his eyes snap open.

"Harry!" Fred yelled as the rest of the group suddenly started pestering him with questions and Harry discovered the outcome of the match, and the ill fate of his Nimbus 2000 broomstick. The whole time everyone was talking, Harry never let go of Arra's hand and she only stared at him with soft, caring eyes.

Soon enough, the Quidditch team left, but Ron, Hermione and Arra stayed with Harry.

"You've been awfully quiet, Arra. Is something wrong?" Harry asked.

She snapped back to reality when she heard her name. "What? Oh, I just…I'm just happy you're ok." She smiled and he returned the gesture.

***

Within the next few weeks, Harry was feeling much better, with the exception of the upcoming Hogsmeade trip. Once again, Harry and Arra were not allowed to attend, as it was _too dangerous, _even though Arra knew that there was nothing to be afraid of. While Harry had gone to see Ron and Hermione off to Hogsmeade, Arra had gone to visit Professor Lupin.

"So Peter Pettigrew framed my father by cutting off his finger?" Arra asked incredulously while sipping her tea.

"Insane, I know. But I'm afraid that's how it happened." Lupin answered with a small chuckle at Pettigrew's expense.

"And now you and my father suspect that Pettigrew is here in the castle?" She asked.

"We're more than positive."

"So why hasn't he been caught?" She asked with confusion.

"He's incognito." Lupin said mysteriously.

Arra blinked. "Incognito? Like in disguise?"

Lupin nodded.

"As what?"

"A rat." He said simply and Arra almost choked on her tea.

"A rat?" She almost yelled. Lupin shushed her. "He's a rat? Are you kidding?"

"No. We've known Wormtail for a long time, and his alternate Animagus form seems the most logical for an effective disguise."

"He's and Animagus?"

"Yes." He answered. "We all were in one way or another. Well, I'm a werewolf, as you know, your father can turn into a dog, James could become a stag, and Peter was a rat." He said simply.

"And you all just decided to do this one day?"

"Yeah. Your dad's idea. He was always ready to do something adventurous. Especially if it was illegal." He smirked. "You remind me of him so much."

She laughed. "So how are we supposed to find Pettigrew in this giant castle?"

"With this." He said as he got up to go to his desk and take something out. He sat back down and proudly gave her…a piece of parchment?

"What's this?" She asked looking it over.

"Our most prized possession, and secret weapon."

"Is this…no way! Is this really the marauder's map?" She asked excitedly. The memories that ministry uncovered made her remember everything, including her father talking about this map.

Lupin's eyes widened. "Wow, that memory spell really did work." He chuckled and removed his wand as he tapped the paper. "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." And suddenly, a map and tiny words appeared on the paper.

"Oh my goodness, this really is amazing." She said as she looked it over. "Can I keep this?"

"Of course." Lupin said. "But, I only want you to use it to find Pettigrew. Don't do anything stupid with it." He said with a warning tone."

She smirked and got up to leave. "Of course not, Professor." And from the look he gave her, she could tell he didn't believe her one bit.

***

"Harry!" Arra yelled as she ran into the common room.

It was empty except for him, sitting in an armchair in the corner.

"What?" He said jumping up in alarm.

"Go get your invisibility cloak!" She said as she pushed him towards the dormitory.

"Why?"

"We're going to Hogsmeade!" She yelled.

"Huh?"

"Go. I'll explain on the way."

He got the cloak and the two covered themselves up and headed down the corridor towards the one eyed witch.

"So you stole this map from Flich's office while you were in detention?" Harry asked with wonder.

"Yep." She lied. Obviously, she couldn't tell him how she _really _got it.

"Wow." He said while they started down the secret passageway. "You keep up stuff like that and you're going to be joining your father in Azkaban." He joked.

"Relax, Harry. You're starting to sound like Hermione." She smirked.

"What?" Harry faked hurtfulness and dramatically placed his hand over his heart.

She laughed at him. "If I go to prison, I'm taking you with me Potter." She warned while wagging a finger at him.

"Now that's just unfair. You're the one who does all the dangerous stuff, I'm the innocent one who just comes along to make sure you don't die." He explained while trying not to laugh.

"Sure, Harry. You just keep telling yourself that." She said as they reached the cellar of Honeydukes and began to prepare for their discovery of Hogsmeade.

"No, Ronald! Harry doesn't like those!" Hermione scolded as they were looking through the candy, obviously trying to find gifts for their friends, who were left behind.

"Well, how am I supposed to know?!" Ron argued back.

"How about some licorice wands for Arra?" She asked.

He grimaced. "No. She hates those."

"How do you know?"

"She got a box once and we threw them at first years because she didn't want them." He laughed as he remembered their antics that so often pissed off Hermione. She scowled at him.

"On second thought, you should get me a box of those. I'm running out of ammunition for my first year targets." Arra laughed from behind them as her and Harry approached.

Their friends jumped in surprise and began to pester them with questions about how they had escaped the walls of Hogwarts. In return, they told them their story, and about the Marauder's Map.

"Brilliant!" Ron said when they told them about it's many wonders.

"But you're not going to keep it, Harry. You're going to turn it in?" Hermione said expectantly.

"It's not mine. It's Arra's. She's the one who knicked it from Filch." Harry said.

"Yeah, well I want Harry to have it." She said and her friend's jaws dropped.

"Me?" Harry asked.

"Of course. You seem to have people constantly wanting to kill you, so it might be useful." She poked fun at her friend's constant misfortune.

He laughed, Ron looked dumbfounded, and Hermione looked like she wanted to hex them all into oblivion. Soon, they all decided that they wanted to go to the Three Broomsticks for a few butterbeers.

They entered and took a table in the back corner. Almost immediately after they received their drinks, a group of people came in and sat at a near table. Before she knew what was happening, Arra and Harry were pushed underneath the table and out of sight. She was about to punch Ron in the foot for what he and Hermione had done, but then she heard the voice of Cornelius Fudge and some other Professors from Hogwarts including McGonagall and Hagrid. She was suddenly thankful for Hermione and Ron's quick thinking until she tuned into the nearby conversation.

"It's such a shame what's been happening lately. All this hullabaloo about Sirius Black wanting to kill poor Harry Potter!" Madam Rosmerta said at some point during the talk. "Especially since Black and James Potter used to be best friends back in their Hogwarts days." Harry's eyes went wide as he stared at Arra in wonder. She gave him an apologetic look as the conversation continued.

More was said, and with each word, Harry looked at Arra with bewilderment and her embarrassment just kept rising.

"Black betrayed the Potters. Just about handed them over to You-Know-Who!" Fudge shouted sometime later.

"Keep your voice down, Minister!" McGonagall shushed him. "Yes, it's true that he did, but that's not even the worst part of it. After all of these years, Black still remains Harry Potter's Godfather."

Harry almost choked at his point. Arra looked almost on the verge of tears because she was so upset that Harry had to find out all of it this way.

"Black is horrible. We all agree on this. It's a wonder his daughter hasn't turned out the same way." The minister scoffed.

Hagrid came to her defense. "Don't you dare say a bad word about that girl!" He warned. "She's had a rough past, but there is no way she would ever do something like that."

"When the ministry tried to get information out of her, she wouldn't talk. But we all know she's hiding something. My bet is that she's working with him. How else could he have possibly broken into Hogwarts?" Fudge barked.

"She wouldn't! Ariana Black cares about Harry more than anyone I know!" McGonagall said.

"Well, if I were Potter, I wouldn't trust her." Fudge said and the adults soon left afterwards.

Ron and Hermione's faces appeared under the table, both staring at Arra, lost for words. Arra quickly glanced at Harry, who was looking at her as if waiting for an explanation for everything. Not knowing what do to, she bowed her head in shame and began to pick at one of her shoelaces.

**Hope you all loved it! After reviewing, I will give you pancakes! :)**


	14. Reunited

**Hello all! Thanks to all of you who reviewed on the last chapter. I'm so glad that everyone is liking this story so far.**

**Oh, and just a reminder for you guys: Narcissa and Bellatrix aren't sisters in this story so Arra and Draco aren't related. A few people mentioned that in the reviews and I just wanted to bring it up again as a reminder. I think it was in the A/N for the 2nd chapter but some people may have forgotten since then. **

**Without further delay, here is Chapter 14! Enjoy!**

**I don't own HP**

"Harry!" Arra shouted as she ran after him down the snow covered street.

He shook his head and walked away faster.

As soon as the adults had left the Three Broomsticks, Harry had quickly left the bar in a huff, with the other three chasing after him. Ron and Hermione had stopped a while ago though, as they had realized that this conversation was between Arra and Harry.

"Harry!" She yelled again as he turned into the woods towards the shrieking shack.

He picked up his pace once again. At this point, Arra was frustrated with him, and so she broke into a sprint and before Harry could turn around and register what was happening, she had tackled him to the ground.

"Arra! Get off of me!" He yelled as he tried to free himself from her body which was pressing down on his, pinning him to the ground.

She eventually managed to get him on his back and placed her knees on the ground on either side of his waist. Once he realized that he was stuck, he gave up and looked at her balefully.

"What is your problem?" She shouted at him.

He didn't answer.

She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Answer me, Harry!"

"Did you know?" He scowled.

"What?" She asked with surprise.

"Did you know?" He asked again, this time louder and with a ruder tone.

"What do you mean _'Did I know'_?"

"About that." He said gesturing to the direction of the Three Broomsticks, from where they just came.

"About what they were talking about?"

"Yes." He answered shortly.

Arra bit her lip. She knew that if she told Harry the truth, he would be furious with her. And she couldn't very well tell him about her father's innocence.

"Well?" He asked expectantly.

She looked down and lowered her voice. "I didn't want you to find out this way."

"So you lied to me." He growled.

"No I didn't lie to you." She said defiantly as she got up off of him and started pacing through the snow. "I just…didn't tell you the truth." She said matter of factly.

Harry gaped at her. "That's the same thing."

"Well what was I supposed to do? Just come up to you one day and say, 'Oh hey Harry. Guess what? You know how your parents are dead? Yeah, that's my dad's fault. And here's something else to bust your buttons, our parents were _best friends!_'" She said sarcastically. "Would you have preferred that?"

Harry's face softened a bit. "Well…no. I wouldn't have preferred that. But you still could have told me! I mean, I would have rather heard it from you than from the Minister of Magic while hiding under a table!" He yelled.

"I thought you would be angry. Obviously I was right." She said gesturing to him and his mad mood.

"Well I am." He said as he returned his hard eyes to hers. They stared at each other, both unwilling to give in.

"So what? Are you just going to blame me for what my father did? That's not fair, Harry. And you know it." She scolded.

"I don't know what to do." He said honestly.

Arra blinked in surprise for she had no other reaction. After about a minute, Arra said, "Uh, it's getting dark. We should get back to the castle before someone notices we're gone." Harry only nodded and began to walk back towards Honeydukes.

She stayed where she was and sighed as she saw him walk away. She didn't particularly feel like walking back next to him when they were fighting. Come to think of it, she didn't really want to be anywhere near him. She glanced at the sky and noticed that she would have at least an hour before she would _have _to go back to school. She looked in the direction of where Harry had gone and saw his tiny form far away from her. He obviously hadn't noticed that she wasn't following and she figured he wouldn't really care anyways. And so she began to walk in the opposite way.

She didn't even really know where she was going after a while, she just kept walking. Soon enough, the shrieking shack came into view and she admired it from afar. It was a very old building, but she had never been anywhere near it. She had wanted to on multiple occasions, but Ron was deathly afraid of it, but wouldn't admit it. He said that it was infested with poisonous spiders, and that a certain death would befall anyone who entered. She laughed to herself at Ron's crazy ideas when she suddenly heard a twig snap behind her.

For some reason, she didn't have to turn around to see who it was. She just knew. "What are you doing here?" She asked without averting her gaze from the shrieking shack.

"Admiring the scenery." Said a husky male voice from behind her.

She smirked. "Hell of a lot better than the stone walls in Azkaban, isn't it?"

"Is that any way to talk to your father, whom you haven't seen in 12 years?" He asked as Arra turned to face Sirius Black.

"Why are you here?" Her voice held no surprise. Just merely an interrogating tone.

"I wanted to see my daughter. Is that a crime?" Sirius asked as he strolled around and closer to her.

"For you, everything is a crime." She smirked with a serious tone.

He nodded in agreement. "True. But I trust you not to turn me into Fudge. Word on the street is that you hate him almost as much as I do."

She stared at him as her gaze hardened into a warning glare. "How do you know I won't turn you in?"

He walked towards her until he was standing next to her and they both looked over at the Shrieking Shack. "I think that deep down in your heart, you'll find that the bonds of family are stronger than any crime. And that no matter what, you love your father, no matter how many people he has killed."

She gave him a knowing look. "Lupin told you that I know, didn't he?" She asked plainly.

"Yeah." He answered simply as a small smile crossed both of their lips.

They stood in silence for a while as Arra assessed what was happening in her head. After believing he was a murderer for so long and then finding out the truth, this was not how she expected their first meeting to go. She figured that there wouldn't have been so much joking. Probably more hugging and crying and all that jazz would have been present. But then again, Arra had never been one of those sensitive girls who sobbed over everything or fawned over men like Gilderoy Lockhart or someone along those lines. In other words, she wasn't Hermione. "So, now what?" She asked after a few minutes of silence.

"What, now what?" He asked with surprise.

"How does this," she gestured to themselves, "work? Do I just have to pretend that my dad is a murderer for the rest of my life while you're on the run? Or am I going on the run with you? Or are we going to try and fix all of this?" She asked quickly while she stared at him with questioning eyes.

He took a deep breath and let it out before answering. "Well, I know that I will die before I go back to Azkaban again. And now that you know the truth, I don't want to cut you out of my life anymore. So I suppose our only option is to fix it."

"I hate to break it to you, but I think that's going to be a lot harder than you think." Arra replied.

"Eh, I've done more dangerous tasks than this before. How bad can it be?" He answered with a toothy grin.

"Well it's not like you can just bust into Hogwarts and hunt around for Pettigrew. I trust you recall what happened last time?" She said reminding him of Halloween.

"Trust me, I won't be trying that anytime soon." He said. "But that's where you come in." He said a bit quieter as he looked away from her.

"Huh?" She asked incredulously.

"Well it's like you said! I can't just break in and search for him! I need and inside man! Er--woman! I mean--girl!" He corrected himself at the last bit.

"Excuse me? How the hell am I supposed to find one stinking rat inside all of Hogwarts?!" She yelled gesturing towards the castle, which could be seen over the tops of the trees.

"It's the one without a toe!" He said excitedly, thinking that he was helping.

She glared at him. "There have got to be million rats within those walls. Am I supposed to pick them all up and examine their feet?"

He thought for a moment. "Well I suppose you don't have to do it exactly like that, but I'm sure you'll come up with a system to do it."

"Yeah, ok." She said sarcastically.

"You don't have to, you know." He said seriously now. "I mean, not if you don't want to."

She turned to look at him. "Of course I want to. I want you to be free. I want us to be a family. I want to be just like it used to be." She said with a stern face.

He smiled softly and suddenly a voice was heard somewhere in the distance. "Arra!" It yelled with worry.

"Oh!" Arra said as she realized who it was. "That's Harry. I completely forgot that I left him." She said with a small laugh, then frowned. "It's been kind of a long time. To be honest, I'm a bit hurt it took him this long to notice the fact that I wasn't there!"

Sirius laughed. "Well, I better get going then." He said and then looked at the ground a bit awkwardly. Arra did the same, for neither of them really knew how to bring their meeting to a close. Sirius then slowly lifted his arms, as if waiting for a hug. Arra giggled a bit and hugged him back. "It's good to see you again, Arra." Sirius said seriously.

They broke apart. "You too…dad." She said awkwardly. They parted ways before Arra suddenly turned back. "Hey!" He turned to look at her. "Before we meet again, you might want to take a bath or something. You kind of reek." She said honestly.

Sirius laughed. "Brutally honest. You truly are _my _daughter."

She laughed as well. Harry's voice was heard again in the distance and Arra looked back at Sirius once again--he was gone. All that remained were some dog shaped footprints leading off into the distance.

"Arra!" She heard Harry's voice again as she whipped her head around just in time to see his figure come running towards her. He skidded to a stop in front of her and threw his arms around her. Arra, taken aback, just stood there blankly. "I was almost to Honeydukes when I noticed you weren't there and then I freaked out and I couldn't find you so I came running back to you and I'm sorry Arra!" He blurted out quickly.

Arra stared at him with wide eyes. _So he's not mad at me anymore? _She thought to herself. She looked at his form, which was still clinging to her and smirked as an evil plan formed itself in her head. "Well you should be sorry!" She yelled suddenly as she formed a fake scowl on her face.

"I am. I'm sorry." He pleaded with her again.

"I could have died, Harry!" She said with a serious voice while trying her best not to laugh.

"I know!" He said as he let go of her and looked at her with an apologetic face. "I was just so angry I didn't even think to look back for you."

She kept her face straight and gave him a look as if to say 'go on'.

"I don't know what I would have done if anything would have happened to you. I would never forgive myself." He continued.

Arra sighed. "Well I don't know how I can forgive you for _leaving me in the forest by myself_." She stressed each word trying to make him feel as guilty as possible. "I mean, that's SO much worse than what I did! I only didn't tell you about our parents friendship because I didn't want to hurt you. And then you leave me in the forest to get back at me!" She explained.

"About that. I'm sorry. I overreacted to that and I shouldn't have gotten angry with you. I know now that you only did that to spare my feelings." He said truthfully. "And I didn't _mean _to leave you in the forest. I thought you were with me. I'm sorry. Can you forgive me?"

Arra sighed again. "I guess so."

Harry smiled. And wrapped his arms around her again. Arra blushed. "Ok, let's go back up to school. And this time, actually come with me." He said as he turned to walk back to school.

Arra began to follow him as she muttered quietly to herself, "I can't believe that actually worked." And she laughed as she jogged to catch up with her friend.

***

A few days later, the four friends were sitting in the common room, each absorbed in their own thoughts. Ron was struggling with a particularly challenging essay that was due the next day he had procrastinated on. Harry was looking through an old photo album, no doubt the one Hagrid had given him. Hermione was shooting Ron silent glares due to the fact that he asked Hermione to write his essay for him. Again.

Arra was twirling a strand of hair through her fingers like she often did when she was thinking intensely. Since she had seen her father again in the forest, she had become nervous about almost everything, like she was his partner in crime. Every time her name was called out in class, she jumped in surprise, as if the professor had known about her secret. Whenever she heard a shriek from somewhere in the castle (usually from a frightened first year who had just discovered a ghost or some friends playing together and screaming happily) her heart momentarily stopped because she feared he had been sighted. Her sleep had been cut back severely, due to her frequent nightmares. And to top it all off, she had absolutely no lead on Pettigrew, whatsoever!

She had tried to find something, but she wasn't receiving any help. They knew for sure that he was in Hogwarts, so her father was no help. And she and Lupin had discussed the matter a few days ago.

"_Why?!" Arra whined as she sat in Lupin's office._

"_Because you are the only one that can." Lupin answered calmly._

"_You could look for that stupid rat too! It would be easier with two people anyways."_

"_Arra, I can't just walk around the school in my spare time looking for a him in the cellars and the other rat-infested places in the school! What if someone were to find me? How would I respond to them?" Lupin said._

_Arra thought about it for a moment. "Tell them that rat's are excellent targets for a new defense spell you're teaching us!"_

"_Besides, even if I did find Wormtail, he would know what was going on, and he would escape. You have to be the one who catches him. He doesn't know that you know the truth."_

"_Just '_Avada Kedavra' _his ass on the spot and it would make our lives a whole lot easier!" She explained._

_He glared at her. "No." He said flatly. "We all have our portions that we need to finish in order for your father to be free. I have mine, and you have yours."_

_Arra huffed, crossed her arms across her chest and scowled at him. "I want to trade." She muttered and Lupin laughed at her. _

She had gone down to the cellars a few times looking for him, but she had had no luck. She checked inside any tiny cracks or holes that he could have crawled in that she came across. One day she saw one run into a tiny crevice and she waited outside it for almost 3 hours in order to check him for 'lack of toe' as Lupin said. It felt like she had checked _every _rat in the school and still hadn't found him. She felt useless.

She sighed again and shifted her position in the armchair. From the couch, she heard Ron growl at his paper in frustration.

"See, this is what happens when you procrastinate, Ronald!" Hermione said from her spot on the couch next to him.

"Hermione! I really don't need a lecture right now!" Ron fought back.

"Fine then. I was going to offer my help, but obviously you don't want it." Hermione said as she turned her nose up in the opposite direction.

Ron's facial expression and attitude changed at once. "Really?" He asked. "Oh, please, Hermione! I really need your help!"

Hermione agreed and she began to correct his essay for him. Arra caught Harry's eye and he gestured to Ron and Hermione, who were bickering again, and rolled his eyes. Arra giggled and, playing along with Harry's game, pretended to strangle and imaginary person (most likely Ron or Hermione) in midair. Harry had to hold his hand over his mouth to stop from laughing out loud. He then proceeded to form his hand into a gun shape and fire in their direction. Arra couldn't help it anymore and laughed loudly, causing Harry to join in.

Hermione sighed with frustration. "What's so funny?"

They tried to regain their composure before Harry answered, "Nothing. Nothing at all. Carry on." He said as he waved her away. Arra laughed again.

"Oh!" Ron suddenly said. And he quickly ran upstairs. They all stared after him in confusion. Ron often times just did things without telling people first.

"So, how are all of your classes going Hermione?" Arra asked to try and get rid of the awkward silence.

Hermione's mood brightened immediately, "Oh they're great! I especially love Arithmancy! It's--"

A loud scream cut Hermione off from upstairs and they all turned to see Ron, sprinting down the stairs, clutching something in his hand.

"LOOK!" He yelled at Hermione.

"Ron, what--?"

"YOUR BLOODY CAT FINALLY GOT HIM!" He yelled and dropped something on the table. They were long cat hairs.

"Ron," Hermione started but Ron screamed again.

"STUPID CROOKSHANKS FINALLY GOT SCABBERS!"

Arra gasped and her eyes widened with realization. How could she be so stupid?! There was one rat in Hogwarts she hadn't checked yet. And he had been right under her nose the whole time.

**YAY SIRIUS! I'm so glad he's finally _in _the story now. He's one of my favorite characters and I was itching to introduce him.**

**Hope you all loved it. Be sure to review! Today, for reviewing, I will give you cheesecake! YUMMM!**


	15. The Excitement Begins

**Hello everyone! Thanks to all of you who reviewed. I really appreciate your guys' opinions and comments. Don't be afraid to suggest something or ask a question. I usually always reply to reviews either to say thanks for reviewing or to answer questions. I figure if you take the time to review, the least I can do is thank you. :) **

**Also, congratulations to Jokegirl for being my 100th**** review! For your prize, I give you chapter 15!**

**ENJOY!**

How could she have been so oblivious?! She had spent weeks searching all over the castle for a specific rat, when it was just a person away all this time! She knew that Ron's rat just had to be Pettigrew. She had checked all of the other rats in Hogwarts--he was the only one left! And, she had asked Ron, just to make sure. As if an answer to her prayers, Ron answered that Scabbers had been in their family for 12 years and he was missing a toe! (According to Ron, this was due to an experiment of Fred and George in their younger years.) She was ecstatic when she discovered this information, but her heart sank again as she remembered that Scabbers was now missing. She was more than positive that he hadn't been eaten by Crookshanks. Pettigrew couldn't be stupid enough to be caught by a cat after evading capture for 12 years.

Arra was sitting in the common room with Hermione at the moment. Hermione had her nose buried in a book, while Arra had borrowed the Marauder's Map from Harry to look for Wormtail. Since Crookshanks had 'eaten' Scabbers, Ron had ceased speaking to Hermione. And Harry was also angry with her for getting his new broomstick (a firebolt!) taken away. It had come in the mail shortly after Arra's meeting with her dad. She immediately knew who it was from and that it wasn't dangerous. But the ever-cautious Hermione had immediately reported the mysterious gift to McGonagall. Thereby leading to the present fight of the three friends. Arra was stuck in the middle, where she usually was when the group separated temporarily. He had since gotten the broom back, and won the most recent Quidditch match against Ravenclaw with it, but was still angry.

Arra was following different names with her eyes along the map. She located Harry and Ron, who were in divination at the moment. Arra was supposed to be there as well, but she tended to ditch that class quite often. When she did show up, she would explain to Trelawney that she had suffered from a traumatic nightmare in which she was trampled to death by a pack of wild hippopotamuses, or something like that and that she had taken a mental health day in order to rest her 'inner eye' or 'chi' or whatever the hell that old bat was always talking about. Today, she had a 'feeling that danger was awaiting her on the staircase to Divination' and she didn't want to walk directly into the face of it. Or at least that's what she was going to tell Trelawney. Back on the map, Arra had found Draco with Crabbe and Goyle. They were in Herbology in the Greenhouses. Arra and Draco's friendship had gotten back on track after their small row. However, Arra was still having conflicting feelings about her two male best friends. For now, her first priority was freeing her father. She would worry about boyfriends later.

"Must you look at that map all the time, Arra." Hermione said suddenly when she realized what Arra was studying.

"I like looking at it. It makes me feel omniscient." She grinned widely at her use of a big word. Much like a 10 year old who just found out where babies come from.

"Do you even know what omniscient means?" Hermione scolded.

Arra glared at her. "Yes. And if I were you, I would back off. Since Harry and Ron aren't talking to you, I'm all you've got."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Oh, joy." She said sarcastically.

Arra grabbed a nearby eraser and threw it at Hermione's head.

"Ouch!" She yelled when it hit her. Arra began to laugh loudly.

Hermione took her pencil and chucked it at Arra, whom it hit in the arm. Arra gasped at Her. "Miss Granger!" She said in a perfect McGonagall impersonation. "I would have expected more mature behavior out of you! One thousand three hundred and fifty one points from Gryffindor!"

Hermione and Arra laughed together until they heard the portrait hole open and Ron and Harry scrambled through. They looked at the girls and said together, "Hi Arra." And then glared at Hermione, before going up to the dormitory.

Arra's eyes followed them up the stairs and then looked back at Hermione. She was staring down at the table. Arra reached across and placed her hand on top of Hermione's. "Hey," she said in a warm tone, "they'll come around eventually. They'll realize that you only turned the broom in because you were worried. And Ron will figure out that it's not your fault your cat ate the rat."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Hermione gave a small smile.

Arra later accompanied Hermione to dinner and sat far away from Harry and Ron. Arra tried to talk to Hermione and cheer her up. But as everyone knows, if Hermione is angry, then she is determined to stay that way. Later, they went back up to the dormitories for bed. Arra said goodnight to Ron and Harry and went up to her own bed and was soon fast asleep.

Arra's dream that night consisted of her chasing Wormtail with a giant hammer and later eating a rather large piece of cheesecake. She was about to take another heaping bite when she was suddenly awoken by an ear-piercing scream.

"What was that?!" She shouted as she bolted upright in her bed. The other girls were all looking around in fear.

"What's going on?" Lavender shrieked in a frightened voice and clutched at Parvati.

Arra rolled her eyes at her annoying roommates and got up out of bed quickly. She headed towards the door.

"Where are you going?!" Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati screamed together.

"To find out what's going on." Arra said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"It could be dangerous!" Parvati warned.

Arra scoffed. "What's life without risk?" She smirked as the other girls looked at her, horrified. Arra turned her attention to Hermione. "You coming?" She asked her best female friend.

Hermione looked at the other girls, shrugged her shoulders in defeat and followed Arra out of the room.

Once they were in the hallway, they saw some other brave souls out to investigate. She could hear frantic voices coming from the boy's dorms.

"Come on." She muttered.

They trudged up the stairs and soon found the source of the screaming--it was Ron. Almost all of the Gryffindors had packed into the tiny dorm room in order to see what the commotion was about. Arra pushed her way through until she could see her best friends.

"What happened?" She asked with worry.

Harry started to say in a doubtful voice, "Well, Ron thinks that--"

"SIRIUS BLACK JUST TRIED TO KILL ME!" Ron cut him off.

Arra's heart stopped momentarily. "What did you say?" She asked quietly.

"He was here! Just now! I woke up and he was standing over me with a knife!" Ron explained in a shaky voice.

Arra's eyes widened in shock and her knees buckled. She swayed on the spot and began to fall over to one side. Harry's arms shot out and caught her securely.

"Arra? You OK?" Harry said in a concerned voice.

She wasn't quite registering what was happening until she felt his strong arms holding her up against his body, making sure she didn't fall. That she didn't get hurt. She looked up into his eyes and saw them filled with worry. Arra was normally the strong and solid one out of the group, and to see her like this must have been scary. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said slowly as she stood up on her own, with Harry's help of course. "I just need some air or something." And with that she quickly exited the dormitory.

Once out of the portrait hole, she took off running towards the one-eyed witch passage. She knew that must be the way he was planning to escape. She reached it and scrambled down the hole, breaking into a sprint as soon as her feet were on solid ground. After running for a while, she noticed a shape in front of her. "DAD!" She yelled.

The dog turned its head around in surprise at her presence. He began to run back towards her, slowly transforming back into a person. "Arra! What are you doing here?"

"Are you MAD?!" She yelled at him. "We both agree for you to stay AWAY from Hogwarts, and then not even a few weeks later, you bust in with a knife in the dormitories!!!"

"I was looking for the rat." He said with a shameful face.

"I know that!" She raised her voice again. "I've known that Scabbers is Wormtail for a while now. Scabbers ran away though, so I don't know where he is!"

Sirius looked down in shame. "Oh. I didn't know that."

"Yeah! I figured! Do you even realize what you just did?! You could have been caught, and you could have gotten me and Lupin in trouble as well! Did you even think about that?"

"I just wanted to help--" He started.

"Well you didn't! You just caused security to be tightened and make Wormtail even more aware of your presence!" She explained. "And why did you come to kill him? That was my job. I was getting it done. Did you not trust me? Or did you just think that I couldn't do it?" She interrogated.

"I just--"

"Forget it." She said in a stern tone which silenced him immediately. "I don't want to hear it. Just stay away from here and I'll finish the job myself. I don't need your help." She scowled as she turned on her heel and left.

***

As Arra had said, security had been tightened extremely and she had no sign of Wormtail. At breakfast one morning, while Arra was sitting with Harry and Ron (who was once again telling the story of how he narrowly escaped death from Sirius Black in the dead of night for the umpteenth time) Hermione came over with a letter clutched in her hand.

"Come to turn us in for something else?" Ron said with a sneer. Arra kicked him under the table.

"No." Hermione scowled at him. "I just figured you might want to know about this." She said, placing the letter on the table.

Arra picked it up and read it aloud to the others: "Dear Hermione, we lost. I'm allowed to bring him back to Hogwarts. Execution date to be fixed. Buckbeak has enjoyed London. I won't forget all the help you gave us. -Hagrid."

The other three kids looked at each other with somber faces. "They can't just kill Buckbeak!" Harry shouted finally. "Just because Malfoy caused him to kick him! It's not fair!"

Arra suddenly stood up. "Where are you going?" Hermione asked.

"To talk to the dumbass behind all of this." She scowled and walked away. She stomped her way over to the Slytherin table until she spotted her platinum blonde haired friend.

He saw her and smiled. "Arra!" He said with a happy tone.

"Don't you dare act all buddy-buddy with me! How could you do this?!"

Draco blinked with confusion. "Uhhh…?"

"Buckbeak, you idiot! He's been sentenced to execution!" She yelled. By this point, almost all of the hall was staring at them. Arra had always been a loud person, especially when she was angry.

"That ugly brute?" He asked as he stood up. He looked more intimidating when he was towering over her. "He's too dangerous to be around students!"

"Liar! You know he's not!" Arra screamed at him.

"He attacked me, Arra!" He defended himself.

"Because you insulted him!"

"So this is _my _fault?!"

"Well at least we agree on _something_!" Arra yelled.

Draco formed a look which was a scowl crossed with surprise. "Since when did you take their side over mine?" He asked. Arra immediately knew who 'they' were.

"Since you started acting like your father!"

That did it. Malfoy frowned in fury and stormed out of the Great Hall. Arra let out a sigh and looked back at the Great Hall. Every eye was staring at her with shock. She glanced at the Slytherin table before moving back to the Gryffindors.

"You and Malfoy fight like an old married couple." Ron pointed out when she returned.

As much as Arra still liked Draco in 'that way' she was too furious to think about being married to him at that point. Arra scowled at him for bringing up such a topic. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Harry frown at him too. He obviously didn't like the thought of Arra marrying Malfoy either.

***

Since they had learned of Buckbeak's execution, Ron and Harry had made up with Hermione. They worked for nights on end, studying appeals and trying their best to come up with the very best case in Buckbeak's favor. In addition to that, they were all trying to cram as much information into their heads for the upcoming exams. Hermione was just as frantic as ever, Ron and Harry were procrastinating, and Arra honestly didn't really care--she had too much on her mind.

She was beginning to think that searching for Wormtail was a lost cause. Sometimes she didn't even want to look anymore. She was still angry at her father for not trusting her with the task. She knew that she was extremely capable of killing a tiny rat herself! Therefore, her exams were taking a backseat in her mind. Besides, she already had enough money and a house to live in for the rest of her life--who needs school?

"You do!" Hermione shouted at her when she expressed her view on the exams. Of course, she left out the part about the rat.

Arra rolled her eyes as they exited their potions exam. "Let's face it Hermione, my Confusing Concoction was absolutely dreadful! I try in all my other classes! Except for Divination, that's a load of rubbish." She said. "Oh, and History of Magic too. That's too boring for me. I have _no idea _how you stay awake in there!" She said with fascination at her best friend. Hermione huffed as they, along with Ron and Harry, headed down to Defense Against the Dark Arts, which was outside.

All four friends did exceptional on this exam, with Arra and Harry both receiving full marks. Like Harry, DADA was Arra's best subject. In fact, it was the only one that really interested her. As they were walking back up to school, they spotted the Minister and some other men talking in hushed voices. Arra scowled at them. She knew that they were here to decide Buckbeak's fate.

"Harry!" The Minister shouted excitedly when he spotted them. He approached and grimaced when he realized who else he was talking to. "Miss Black." He nodded curtly.

"Fudge." She responded shortly with a sneer.

Fudge looked back at Harry, not even acknowledging Ron or Hermione. "I'm here on an unpleasant mission I'm afraid. Something to do with Hagrid--"

"We know why you're here." Arra cut in with a scowl.

Fudge, startled at her audacity, continued, "Yes, well. Must be off then." And with that, he left.

"Oh I hate him!" Arra yelled, frustrated. "He doesn't even care what happens to Buckbeak! They're going to win unfairly and Hagrid won't even stand a chance!"

"You don't know that." Harry said even though everyone could tell he didn't mean it either. They all knew what was going to happen.

After they completed all of their exams, a letter from Hagrid came from Hedwig. It said that Buckbeak was to be executed at sunset. They all decided that it would be best to go down and be with Hagrid when it happened.

A bit before sunset, they all gathered under the Invisibility Cloak and exited the castle. They knocked on the door, and Hagrid let them inside, scolding them for their lack of obedience.

"Yeh shouldn't've come!" He said as they all sat around the table.

"We weren't going to let you do this on your own, Hagrid." Arra said comfortingly.

"We'll be here. And we'll tell them what really happened. Once they hear the real story, they can't possibly execute him!" Hermione said.

Hagrid's eyes widened. "Oh no yeh will not! I won't have the three of yeh watchin that!" He said pointing to outside, where Buckbeak was waiting. "An' besides, you two," he pointed at Harry and Arra, "aren't even supposed teh be out a' night."

Harry said, "We're not going to leave you." The other three agreed.

Hagrid just shook his head, unable to think of a valid argument. "How about I make us all some tea?" Arra said as the got up.

She could hear the others talking behind her as she put the kettle on. She reached for the bottle of milk in the back of the line of containers and shrieked when she felt something move inside it and saw something big, dark, and alive swimming in it. She immediately dropped the bottle and watched it shatter into tiny pieces. Her eyes widened and she gasped when she saw the creature inside--it was a rat. And it was missing a toe.

**YAY! The excitement begins! Hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Be sure to review and you may have some spaghetti! **


	16. The Truth

**Hey everyone! I'm SO sorry for the very slow update. Once again, had a lot of homework and I've been really busy lately. But next week is fall break so I should be able to finish some chapters. **

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! I got some really good ideas from your guys' suggestions. :) **

**Oh! I mentioned in chapter 8 that Arra's mother's name is Violet. So just remember that for this chapter and the rest of the story, okey dokey?**

**ENJOY!**

Arra shrieked when she saw Scabbers laying on the floor in the midst of the broken glass. The creature that she had been looking for for months, and here it was, laying helplessly in front of her. Without thinking, she lunged at him and her hands closed around his slippery body. Obviously Womrtail was becoming suspicious of her motive, as he was struggling like mad to release himself from her death grip.

Arra was on her knees in Hagrid's kitchen, as she had just suddenly dove to the floor, almost strangling Ron's rat. She stared down into the creature's beady little eyes and she could see the pieces coming together in his mind. Then, either out of maliciousness or relief, she began to laugh.

"Arra?" Harry's voice said as her head snapped up when she realized where she was. She turned and saw Ron, Hermione, Harry and Hagrid all looking at her with confusion.

"Oh." She said, not really knowing what else to say. "I, uhhh…"

"Scabbers?!" Ron asked as he realized what she was holding. He stood up and strode over to her.

Arra looked down at the rat, glowered at him, then looked back to Ron. "Yeah," she grimaced, "I wanted to grab him before he could get away again. For you. Here." She frowned as she reluctantly handed him back to Ron.

"Scabbers!" Ron said excitedly as he received his pet. He smiled like a child until he saw Arra's glare out of the corner of his eye. "Something wrong?" He asked.

"I'm just so upset about Buckbeak." She lied, all the while not removing her baleful eyes from Scabbers.

At this point, voices could be heard outside. They belonged to the Minister and Dumbledore.

"Yeh need to get out of here, now!" Hagrid said as the four friends gathered under the Invisibility Cloak. Arra purposely stood next to Ron, in order to keep an eye on his murderer of a pet. Quietly, they slipped out the back door and started up the hill.

"Hurry," Hermione urged them. "I don't want to be here when it happens."

However, Ron was holding up the group. "Scabbers! What are you doing?! Calm down and stay in my pocket!"

"Ron, what's going on?" Harry said impatiently.

Arra looked over at Ron again and saw that Scabbers was trying to climb his way out of Ron's pocket quite violently. She was certain he now knew what Arra's intentions were.

"Guys…" Hermione groaned as the executioner came outside to see Buckbeak. "Come on, please."

"Ron, just hold onto your damn rat until we get somewhere safe." Arra said. "_Don't _let him go." She said harshly.

"I--can't!" Ron said, gripping his pet wildly.

"GUYS!" Hermione said, louder this time as she saw the executioner raise his knife.

Arra looked back too, just in time to see the knife come slamming down. Just before it came in contact with the creature's neck, Arra buried her face in Harry's shoulder. A slicing sound echoed through the grounds.

Hermione began to cry, Ron was silently trying to get a hold on Scabbers, and Harry had pulled Arra into a hug. Neither of them were crying, just holding each other. Even after witnessing death, Arra felt completely safe in Harry's arms. However, this blissful feeling was cut short by--

"No! Come back!" Ron shouted as Scabbers took off running.

Without thinking, Arra threw the Invisibility Cloak off of herself and sprinted after him.

"Arra!" The other three said as they chased after her.

At this point, Arra didn't even care if she killed Wormtail in front of Ron. She just wanted the job done. She had spent way too much time searching for him, just to let him get away now. The only thing she was concerned with was her father. She wasn't even aware of where she was going, or what dangerous tree she was almost in range of.

She finally lunged at the rat, slamming to the ground on her stomach with her arms outreached as her fingers closed around him. "GOTCHA!" She cheered at her victory. She stood up to see her friends running up to her.

"Arra!" Harry yelled. "Look out!" He pointed to something behind her.

Arra whirled around just in time to see a gigantic tree branch come flying towards her. It crashed into her torso and took her flying into the air. Somehow, she couldn't manage to hold onto the rat, and he slipped through her fingers back on the ground. "NO!" She shouted as she was swinging wildly through the air. She looked below her and spotted a pile of bushes that looked soft enough to land in about 15 feet from the Whomping Willow. She knew that if she let go at the right time, she would be launched right into it. Praying silently, she let go.

Her body went flying in the air, and had she not been so afraid, the experience of flight would have been quite enjoyable. She looked at the ground and closed her eyes at the last second before impact.

THUD went Arra's body as she landed on her back in the weeds. She groaned up in pain, but wasn't seriously hurt in any way. Somehow, she managed to look up over the bushes at her friends.

"Where's Arra?" She heard Harry ask frantically.

"Over here!" Arra said as she lazily threw her arm up in the air. "I'm OK!" She said as she rolled onto her back, unwilling to move just yet. Harry and Hermione and Ron knew that she was all right, so she wasn't in any hurry to start running again.

"Harry!" Ron screamed suddenly. "It's the Grim!"

This exclamation gave Arra a sudden surge of energy. She whipped her head around (which caused a sudden new wave of pain) and saw a great black dog jump over Harry, and run towards Ron.

_Uh-oh. _She thought as she tried to get up from the bushes. However, the pain was still subsiding, and it was too excruciating to try and move. She could only watch. The dog dragged Ron into a hole at the base of the Whomping Willow as Hermione and Harry tried to grab him before it was too late--they didn't. Ron's body was swallowed into the hole. Arra groaned as she knew that her father's identity was going to be revealed--not if she could stop it.

"Arra!" Harry's voice said. "We're going after Ron! We'll come back for you after!" He must have known that she was too hurt to go on, but didn't want to abandon Ron.

She tried to yell 'no' to them, but before she could protest, they had jumped into the hole after Ron.

After a few more minutes of rushed recuperation, she was able to stand on her own. She got up just in time to see Professor Lupin entering the hole as well. She took a step and fell down once again. She sat for a few more minutes trying to regain her strength before she saw Snape also go into the hole. _What the bloody hell is he doing here? This can't be good. _She thought as she forced herself to get up and go after them.

The knot in the tree had already been touched, so she didn't have to fight her way through the branches. It was a long walk through the passage, and she had no idea how long it was, or where she was going even.

Eventually she found herself in a room with wooden walls covered in dust. The floorboards squeaked and she could hear angry voices a few floors above her.

_Am I in the Shrieking Shack? _She thought as she began to climb a nearby staircase. The voices were still arguing, and she was trying to identify each voice.

"Vengeance is sweet!" Once of the voices said. _Snape? Is that Snape? Oh, this can not be good if Snape knows about everything now._

"Oh why don't you run along and play with your chemistry set?!" Sirius retorted back.

"Severus, if you would just listen--" Lupin's calm voice tried to stop the fighting.

"Quiet werewolf!" Snape yelled.

Arra continued up the stairs until she was just outside the door listening. She wasn't quite sure what to do. If she ran inside, Snape and Harry and everyone would know that she was in league with her father, but if she did nothing, then Wormtail would get away--again.

"Two more for Azkaban tonight, I think." Snape sneered as she heard him walk towards the door.

_Now or never. _She thought to herself. She took a deep breath, whirled around to block the doorway, wand out straight in Snape's face. "_Expelliarmus!" _She yelled as Snape was blasted off of his feet and thrown into the back wall obviously unconscious.

The five other people in the room all looked at her with surprise.

"You attacked a teacher!" Hermione squeaked with shock.

Arra ignored her and strode over to Sirius and Lupin. "What are you two doing here?!" She scolded them in a voice worthy of Mrs. Weasley. The two men looked around a bit shamefully like children.

"Arra?" Harry asked with worry.

She talked over him. "Killing him was supposed to be MY job!" She said. "But you couldn't even trust me with that!"

"Arra?!" Harry's voice was now in full shock. Unaware to Arra, Harry and the others thought she was talking about killing Harry.

"Its not that we didn't trust you Arra. Its just that this opportunity was too good to pass up." Sirius explained. "He's right there! We could finish it easily."

"Fine. But I'm still mad at you two." She said with a glare.

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE MY FRIEND!" Harry finally yelled.

Arra's eyes widened at him. "What are you talking about? I am your friend."

"Oh, so you didn't just spend the last three years waiting for the perfect moment to pick me off?!"

She realized what he must have been thinking the whole time. "What? No! I've been trying to kill Ron's rat." She said like it would explain everything.

Her three friends stared at her with puzzlement. "Scabbers? What has Scabbers got to do with anything?"

"Well you're rat, he's--Dad, why don't you take this one?" She said turning to Sirius.

He went on to explain how Peter Pettigrew was their friend in school. But later was persuaded to join the dark side by Lord Voldemort and betrayed James and Lily, thereby framing Sirius.

"You three are completely mental." Ron said finally when they were done explaining.

"Am not!" Arra yelled back defensively.

"Enough!" Lupin shouted. "There's only one way that we can prove it." He turned to Ron. "Give me your rat."

"No!" The red head shouted.

"Give it to him." A quiet voice from the corner said. Arra looked. It was Harry. Arra shot him a small smile of gratitude. He, however, was still glaring at her with betrayal.

"This will make sense of everything." Lupin said as a bright blue flash erupted from his wand and hit the rat in the face. After the light subsided, in place of the rat lay a tiny, fat man with a balding head and mouse-like features, shaking uncontrollably with fear.

Everyone stared in silent shock--except Arra. She was laughing.

"What's so funny now, Arra?" Sirius asked impatiently.

After catching her breath she answered, "I'm sorry. I just--this is what I've been searching for for months?! This tiny little thing?! I just figured that for a servant of Lord Voldemort, he would be, well--well just _more._"

Pettigrew looked at her with sad eyes. He must have been humiliated by being made fun of by a thirteen year old witch.

"Believe us now?" Lupin said to Ron, Harry and Hermione, who were all staring with mouths wide open.

"I let you sleep in my _bed_!" Ron finally said as he looked at Pettigrew with disgust.

At this point, Pettigrew broke down in tears, going up to each person in the room and pleading with them.

"Arra!" He said when it was her turn. "Your mother! She was so kind! She wouldn't have let this happen to me."

"SHUT UP!!!" Sirius roared as he kicked Pettigrew hard in the side. Arra only stared with wide eyes at the scene before her. "Don't you dare talk about Violet like that!" Peter whimpered in pain.

Arra looked around at the scene before her. Ron was looking at Wormtail with hatred, Hermione was backed up against a wall, muttering something about getting in trouble, and Harry was just staring blankly at Pettigrew. He noticed Arra staring at him and he looked back at her. She gave him a small half-smile, and miraculously, he returned it.

She looked back and Lupin and Sirius. "Just kill him already."

A new wave of tears flowed from Pettigrew's face as Sirius and Lupin prepared themselves for murder. At the last moment, however, Harry jumped in and yelled, "No!"

"Excuse me?" Arra said, staring at Harry's audacious nature.

"It's just that--I don't think my dad would have wanted his two best friends to become killers."

Lupin sighed. "It's your call. But think about what this man has done, Harry. He's the reason for all of our suffering."

"I know. But we'll take him back up to the castle--"

Pettigrew threw himself at Harry's feet, "Bless you! Bless you Harry!"

"Get off of me!" Harry yelled as he kicked Wormtail off. "I said we'd take you back up to the castle. After that, the dementors can have you."

***

They walked back through the passageway, everyone getting along quite nicely now. Except Pettigrew of course. He was sobbing uncontrollably. Arra was walking in the back with Hermione, Ron and Lupin were dragging the protesting Pettigrew, and Harry and Sirius were in the front talking. (They had left Snape in the Shrieking Shack).

"How long did you know?" Hermione asked.

"That my father was innocent? I found out the first night he broke in. Halloween. My memories that the ministry brought back showed me the truth." Arra answered.

"I'm sorry." Hermione said.

Arra laughed, "Why are you sorry? You're not the one who put him in Azkaban."

"I know. But now that I know, I feel horrible for saying all those things about him being a murderer. I mean, we were always sorry when we said it just because he's your dad, but the fact that he was innocent must have made it hard for you to hear those things." Hermione said truthfully.

"It's alright. I kind of got used to it after a while. And I'm just an excellent liar." She said with the trademark Arra smirk.

Hermione smiled as well. "I'm sorry that you had to carry all this around. And I'm sorry I wasn't more help."

"Don't feel bad. You didn't know."

"I also am sorry because you didn't think you could tell me." Hermione said, looking at the ground.

"Hermione, I would have loved to have told you. But how would you have reacted?"

Hermione nodded. "I understand. But you know you can tell me anything, right? We're best friends for a reason."

"I know." Arra said as she gave Hermione a hug. "Next time I know a mass murderer is actually innocent and it's vital that I find the true murderer even if it means putting my own life in danger, you'll be the first person to know." The two girls laughed together as they continued walking.

"Arra." Sirius called from the front of the group, waving her over.

"What's up?" She said as she approached him and Harry.

"Good news!" Sirius said excitedly. "Harry's going to come and live with us once we clear my name!"

Arra's face split into a wide grin as she looked at Harry, who had the same expression. "Roomies!" She shouted as she hugged him tightly. Secretly, this piece of information made her the happiest and most nervous she had been in a long time. If her and Harry lived together, it would be a lot easier for their feelings for one another to be recognized. But she was nervous about being around him 24/7 while trying her best not to suddenly start kissing him. _Either way, _she figured, _it would be fun. *Wink*._

"I'm going to go check on Ron." Harry said as he left father and daughter alone.

"So," Arra asked, "how does it feel?"

"To be free?" Sirius asked, "Amazing."

"I'm glad." She smiled. "I can't wait for us to be a family again. Ever since I left Bellatrix as my guardian, I've never really had a home. I just stayed with friends over the summer and holidays, but it never really felt right. But now, it's going to be different." She said confidently. "It's going to be better."

"It will be." He said. "I promise. I will make the last 12 years up to you. We will be a family."

"Me, you," she looked at a certain black haired boy fondly, "and Harry."

Sirius followed her line of sight and saw her face, filled with love when she looked at her friend. "Am I going to have to put the two of you on different floors entirely when we live together?"

Arra snapped back to his attention. "What? No. What are you even talking about? Why would we have to be on different floors?" She said nervously and _way _too quickly.

"Come on, Arra. I know that look. You're in love with Harry Potter!" He said, pointing at her and laughing like an immature child.

"I am not!" She lied. He gave her a knowing look. "I swear! I'm not in love with Har--Is it really that obvious?" She asked once realizing that she had lost the argument.

"Yes." Sirius laughed again.

"I don't think it is. No one else has noticed."

"Well, they were too occupied with being afraid of a certain murderer trying to break into Hogwarts all year." He smirked. "But, if I had to pick anyone for you, it would be Harry."

"Maybe." She smiled. "But you don't have to worry about anything between me and Harry yet. I still haven't decided if he's the one that I even want. I mean at this point I've narrowed it down to two--"

"What?!" Sirius cut her off. "Narrowed it down to two? Jeez Arra! Five minutes into resuming my post of father and I've already got to deal with _boyfriends._" He said the last word with disgust.

She laughed. "At least you weren't around for the first two boyfriends from last year."

Sirius dramatically threw his hands up in the air. "Oh my God! You're unbelievable!" He then pointed his finger at her and said in a stern voice, "Start talking. You've got a lot of explaining to do."

She patted his shoulder affectionately. "Well thankfully, we have a lot of time ahead of us." They smiled together at the thought of a normal life as a regular family. At that moment, neither Arra or Sirius had ever felt happier.

**Haha, I just love how Arra and Sirius interact with eachother. It seems like Sirius would still be immature and childish even though he has a kid.**

**Hope you all enjoyed it!**

**After reviewing today, you will recieve a cheeseburger (Sweet baby Jesus, that sounds good!)**


	17. The Sweet Taste of Freedom

**Hey there buddies! I'm back. Seems like it's been forever, I know! And I'm sorry for the delay.**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and gave me your opinions of what Sirius' fate should be and I'm proud to say that…I MADE MY DECISION! Some of you will be very happy with this chapter. I hope all of you will like it, but I can never be sure. :)**

**I don't own Harry Potter**

**ENJOY!**

The group continued the walk up to the castle until they reached the great oak doors.

"You ready?" Arra asked her father, looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

He took a deep breath and sighed as a wide smile spread across his face. "Yes."

Arra took hold of the handle and pulled as Sirius went into his animal form. They didn't want to scare any of the kids around the school by having Sirius Black just waltz up to Dumbledore's office. Of course, they would be a bit worried of the seriously injured Ron, and the fat little man who they were dragging behind them. They had left Snape back at the Shrieking Shack. They figured that would be the best plan. But not before Sirius drew a fake mustache and unibrow on the greasy professor's face.

The group entered the main entry hall, glad to be greeted by no one. If they were lucky, they could get all the way up to the headmaster's office without having to explain their present state to anyone. And for once, something in the life of Harry Potter and his friends went as planned!

"Come in." Dumbledore's bright and cheery voice said from the other side of the door.

Harry took a deep breath and led the group into the office. Arra opened her mouth to immediately begin explaining, and apparently everyone else did as well, but all stopped when they caught sight of Dumbledore. He was smiling calmly from his desk, just looking at the visitors plainly. "Hello." He said finally. "I never thought I'd see a sight like this."

Arra frowned in confusion. "Sir?" She asked tentatively. "Are you alright?"

He looked at her. "Yes, I'm quite fine, thank you. But Mr. Weasley there," he said pointing to Ron, who was still beaten up pretty badly from the dog bite, "doesn't look so good."

Arra looked around again, still confused as to why Dumbledore was so calm. Why he wasn't completely freaking out about having a little mad man crying in the corner, a random dog, and a seriously injured student just standing in his office. She caught Harry's eye. He too looked completely lost as to Dumbledore's behavior.

"I suggest that Professor Lupin take Mr. Weasley to the Hospital Wing, and our little friend," he looked at Wormtail, "to Mr. Filch until we decide any further action."

"Ooooookay." Lupin said slowly as he led the two out of the room. Well, for Wormtail it was more like dragging him out of the room.

As soon as they were gone, Arra whipped her head around to the Headmaster, ready to begin her questioning. However, she was silenced when he put his hand up, stopping her. "Sirius," Dumbledore said looking at the dog, "it's quite alright for you to turn back into a human being now. I promise we won't be interrupted." Sirius did so.

"Wait, what?!" Arra yelled. "You knew about him being an animagus?" She asked Dumbledore.

"Oh yes. I've known since they were students here at the school. A clever Headmaster such as myself doesn't just seem to look over the fact that four students were sneaking out once a month when it just happened to be a full moon. It's not like most people follow werewolves in human form." He said with a twinkle in his eye.

Arra looked around with a confused face. "How much exactly do you know?"

"More than you would assume, Ariana." He said smiling. It may have just been the light, but Arra could have sworn that there was a small bit of sadness in his eyes as he said her full name. But as soon as she noticed the change, it had disappeared. "But let us listen to your explanation, as I'm sure it will be most entertaining." He said, sitting back in his chair.

"Um, sure." Arra said, still a bit confused. "Dad, why don't you start from the beginning?"

"I was framed by that fat-little-rotten-no-good-dirty-sack-of-snot." He said with a scowl.

"He means Peter Pettigrew." Harry added hopefully.

"Details, old friend." Dumbledore urged kindly.

"Right," Continued Sirius, "Wormtail joined Voldemort towards the end, and he's the one who told Voldemort where they were. Then after James and Lily--…it happened," he faltered. He still had trouble talking about their murder, "after it happened, Wormtail framed me to save his own ass. Didn't even care about anyone but himself. Worthless piece of shi--"

"Arra," Dumbledore cut Sirius off. "Why don't you tell me what happened after that?"

"Yeah. Well on Halloween, after dad broke in--that was to find Wormtail, not Harry, by the way! Just felt like I should clear that up. But yeah, when the minister looked through my memories about my dad, I just remembered I guess. Then I went to talk to Lupin and it just sort of went on from there. Then tonight, Harry, Ron and Hermione found out the truth as well. And so did Professor Snape." She added, remembering the unconscious Professor, still in the Shrieking Shack. "You may want to check up on him later." She said quietly, for fear of getting in even more trouble. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sirius trying to stifle a laugh at Snape's expense. Arra stomped on his foot.

"Ouch!" He said quietly, shooting her a glare.

"Oh, shut up. You're fine." She said, ending the matter.

"Professor," Hermione said suddenly. "I can't help but wonder why you're being so calm about all of this?"

"I feel that if you think back," He said turning back to Arra. "You'll remember why."

A confused Arra racked her brain for a specific memory. She was quite good at that now, after the ministry's spell. She pretty much remembered everything now. Which was both a blessing and a curse. Suddenly, she remembered the correct memory:

_She had just remembered that her father had been innocent. Arra was now watching the angry Minister storm out of the Hospital Wing and she couldn't help but smile. _

_"Something funny, my dear?" Dumbledore asked with a smile._

_"Oh, no. Just glad he's gone." She lied._

_"Hmmm, I'm getting the feeling that there's something your not telling him." He questioned with a twinkle in his eye._

_"I have no idea what you're talking about, sir." She said with a smile._

"Did--did you know? Then, I mean?" She knew it was true now that the thought had been placed in her head. Dumbledore knew everything. It was like he could read minds or something!

"You'll find I'm a very perceptive old man." He said with a smile.

"Sir," Hermione said. "If you knew months ago, why did you let everyone go on thinking these horrible things for so long?"

"Miss Granger, if I had told you that your best friends father was not a murderer, was not after Mr. Potter, and had broken into Hogwarts to steal Mr. Weasley's rat, how would you have reacted to that?"

"I would have thought that you'd fallen off your rocker, sir. No offense." Hermione said truthfully.

"Exactly, my dear. Do you understand now why we all kept this from you?"

Harry and Hermione both nodded. Arra grinned at her friends and they returned the gesture.

"So now what?" Sirius suddenly asked.

"I don't understand." Dumbledore said.

"How do we go on from here? Do we need to call the minister? Does Wormtail get sent to Azkaban? Am I free to finally take a shower?" He asked hopefully.

Dumbledore smiled. "Of course. I will send an urgent patronus message to the Minister and we will resolve the matter once he gets here." And with that, Dumbledore got to work on his Phoenix shaped patronus.

"Are we going to have to live in that stupid old Grimmauld house?" Arra asked her father as the four guests sat down on the chairs sitting around the office while awaiting the minister.

"For now, yes." Sirius said sadly. Arra groaned. "I hate it as much as you do, Arra. But we don't really own another house right now. But we have the money, and we'll get a new one as soon as possible."

Arra smiled. "Ok."

Sirius shuffled his feet. "But I was actually thinking that we wouldn't even be spending that much time at home this summer."

"Huh?"

"I thought maybe we could go on one of those extreme road trips all around the world. Wherever we want! Italy, Egypt, France, China, and," he paused for dramatic effect and leaned in closer, "Canada!" He said excitedly.

Arra's face split into a wide grin. "Really?! Oh my gosh, that's going to be so much fun! Wait--Harry's coming too, right?"

"Of course!" Sirius said.

"Seriously?" Harry said as he gave Arra a hug. She hugged him back with enthusiasm. She looked up at her father, as she was the one facing him, while Harry's back was to her father. Sirius looked at both the hugging kids, smiled widely, and gave her a double thumbs up. She scowled at him.

A sudden door opening pulled their attention back to the scene around them.

"Dumbledore!" Cornelius Fudge said as he burst into the room. "What do you mean he's innocent?!"

"He means he's innocent." Arra said rudely from her chair. "He's telling the truth. He's not lying. Because you and I both know, sir, that lying is _bad_." She explained to the Minister like he was an idiot (scratch that. He is an idiot.) She got up from her chair and slowly advanced on him. "Lying, will get you sent to Azkaban! But then again," she looked back at her innocent, truth-telling father, who was grinning at her, "in some cases, it doesn't matter what you say. You're going anyways."

"Enough, Arra." Dumbledore said calmly. "Harry, Hermione, Arra, why don't you step outside for a bit while we discuss this like adults."

"Oh, then the minister better come with us." Arra sneered. Fudge's face turned redder than a tomato. Sirius was trying not to hold in a laugh, but not doing very well. "Actually on second thought, we'd better take my dad too." His laughter subsided and he glared at her.

"Miss Black." Dumbledore said a bit more sternly.

She gave one of her trademark smirks, put her hands up in surrender, and backed out of the room. "Alright, alright, I'm going." And she closed the door behind her.

Dumbledore spoke up, "Oh, could you please call Miss Granger back, there's something I need her to do for me."

"Sure." She went down the stairs to the corridor with the Gargoyle. "Hermione, Dumbley wants you."

"Dumbley?" She asked dumbfounded.

Arra shrugged. "Eh, his name's too long to keep saying over and over. He will henceforth be called Dumbley!" She said proudly, stomping her foot and placing her hand over her heart like a member of the Queen's guard.

"Dumbley. I like it." Dumbledore said from behind her.

Arra spun around. "Oh! Sorry sir, I didn't know you were there. I thought Hermione was coming up to see you."

"No matter." He said, closing the matter. "And I decided this conversation would be best held in private. And he took Hermione just out of earshot of the other two.

She joined Harry, who was sitting on the ground, watching the sun come up. "Interesting night, huh?"

"You're telling me." Arra said, putting her head back, exhausted.

He looked at her sincerely. "I'm sorry."

She lifted her head and stared at him and saw sadness and remorse in his beautiful green eyes. "For what?" She asked softly.

"For doubting you. For thinking, even momentarily, that you would ever do something to hurt me. I know now, that you were trying to protect me." He said.

"It's ok. I probably wouldn't have reacted the same way."

He nodded sadly. "But you know that I would never hurt you, right?"

She smiled and placed her hand on his dirty cheek. "I know." She said, wiping some dirt away from his eye.

She was about to pull her hand away when she suddenly felt another hand on top of hers--Harry's. He looked in her eyes intensely, and Arra could feel her heart threatening to jump straight out of her throat. Her intestine's felt like they were tying themselves into knots and keeping the butterflies in her stomach trapped inside her. She was suddenly very aware of her hand, still on Harry's cheek, and she hoped to God that it wasn't getting sweaty and wetting his face. He was still holding her hand in place when he gave it a tiny squeeze, as if telling her that it was okay. Arra tried to will herself to lean in to him, but her body was stiff as stone. But at that moment, she felt like she could have stayed that way with Harry forever. Just staring at each other, silently communicating their feelings. Or at least she hoped he was feeling the same. If he wasn't, boy was she going to whoop his ass for leading her on.

The sound of running footsteps made them break apart suddenly. Arra looked behind her at the intruder of her romantic moment. "Hermione?" She asked confused. "Weren't you just over there," she pointed, "with Dumbledore? How are you there now? You never even walked by us!" _Jeez, how long were Harry and I staring at each other?_ She thought to herself.

Hermione laughed. "No. I'll explain later. But uh, I kind of sent you a new pet."

"Excuse me?"

"How do you feel about Hippogriffs?" Hermione asked, clearly out of breath from running.

Arra was confused. She looked at Harry, who was sniffing the air.

"Hermione, why do you smell like ferrets?" Harry asked curiously.

"What's that around your neck?" Arra said, pointing to a rather large necklace Hermione had on that sort of resembled a clock.

Hermione quickly tucked it inside her shirt and opened her mouth to answer, but was cut off by a new set of footsteps running towards them.

"Lupin? What's wrong?"

He looked at them grimly. "Pettigrew's escaped."

* * *

Harry, Hermione, Arra, Lupin, Fudge, and Dumbledore all met up in the Hospital Wing, where they were reunited with Ron. Hermione immediately went to Ron and began to fuss over the state of him. Harry and Arra stayed with the adults to discuss the matter.

"Let me get this straight. So while you were helping Madame Pomfrey try to fix Ron up, Wormtail just grabbed your wand, transformed, and took off?" Arra asked dumbfounded.

Lupin nodded gravely. "I'm afraid so. I know it was irresponsible for me to leave my wand unattended, but Madame Pomfrey was having trouble wrapping Ron's leg by herself."

"It's ok, Remus. We know you didn't mean for this to happen. It was a mistake any of us could have made." Sirius said comfortingly.

Fudge shook his head. "So Peter Pettigrew is actually the one caused all of this?"

"Yes Minister." Dumbledore said. "I explained everything to you up in my office."

Fudge nodded. "I think I'm beginning to understand. I just--I can't believe that the real killer has been on the loose for the last 12 years!"

"Yeah, we know." Harry said shortly glaring at the Minister.

The Minister gained back his normal stature. "Well, I think a visit to the Ministry and the Daily Prophet is in order. Dumbledore." He said, nodding to the Headmaster. He looked at Arra and Sirius and scowled before leaving the Hospital Wing.

Sirius scoffed. "How rude!"

"Now, we've all had a long night. I suggest we all go to bed. Sirius, we'll get you a private room so nobody knows you're here. I think it would be best if we waited until the official news is announced before we start parading you around the grounds." Dumbledore said. Sirius nodded in agreement and he, Dumbledore, and Lupin left.

Before going to bed, the three remaining kids talked with Ron for a bit.

"How are you doing?" Hermione asked softly.

"Brilliant." He said sarcastically. "My rat is a murderer, who is now on the loose again, Arra's dad tried to take my leg off, and we're all going to get a heaping load of detention from Snape when he finally comes back."

Harry groaned. "I completely forgot about Snape. Prepare for the remainder of our Saturdays to be spent testing Snape's potions for boils and puss-bombs!" Harry looked over at Arra. "Arra, what's wrong, you're awfully quiet?"

Arra's attention was drawn back to them. "Huh? Oh yeah, I'm just too happy to really care right now." She said with the world's biggest smile.

* * *

The next morning, Arra was greeted by an owl at her window. She let it in and took the newspaper off of it's leg. She unfolded the _Daily Prophet_ to find today's headline in big black letters:

**SIRIUS BLACK INNOCENT; NEW THREAT ON THE LOOSE**

Arra went on to read about how her father was wrongly accused and framed, blah, blah blah, she knew the story. It also mentioned for people to be on the lookout for Peter Pettigrew in human and rat form, because he was the real criminal. Arra laughed to herself at how hard it must have been for Fudge to print this.

"Good morning, Arra." Hermione said as she woke up. Arra threw the paper at her and watched as Hermione's face split into a smile. "This is wonderful!"

"Yeah, but I wonder how everyone is going to take it." Arra said with a bit of worry. "Eh, I don't really care. Because I'm going to Canada!"

The two girls walked down to breakfast, and saw almost every kid in there reading the Daily Prophet in disbelief. When they noticed Arra, all of their wide eyes became glued to her. "Déjà vu." She muttered to herself.

"At least this time it's for a good reason." Hermione pointed out and the two sat down at the table.

Soon enough, Harry joined them and he was obviously upset about something. Ron was still in the Hospital Wing so he wasn't joining them.

"Uhhh, you ok Harry?" Arra said.

"No." He said shortly. "I just talked to Dumbledore. He says that I can't live with you this summer!"

"What?!" Arra said with disbelief. "He can't do that! It's my dad's choice not his!"

"Well apparently he talked to your dad and explained to him that it would be better for me to be with my aunt and uncle. Something about the 'power of love' protecting me there." He began to violently dig into his eggs.

"I'm sorry." Arra said. "But, we'll be back next year. I mean, a summer isn't really that long is it?"

Harry tried to smile. "Take a picture of a moose in Canada for me."

"Of course." She beamed, and Arra realized that for the first time, in a really long time, she was truly happy.

**And that's the end of their third year! I really hope you all liked it and that I didn't ruin the story too much for some of you by letting Sirius go free. I just couldn't put him back in hiding since I had the power to change it! REVIEW and you will be given pudding!**


	18. Survivor's Guilt

**Hey everyone! So thanks to all of you who reviewed and I'm sorry if I didn't respond to thank you for it. Fanfiction decided to be dumb and not send me email notifications that I had reviews for some of you, so I had no response link to shoot you a quick note. And I'm sorry! Because I feel like if you review, then the least I can do is thank you for it with a personal note. If it doesn't send them to me again, I shall be very upset. :(**

**But anyways, I'm glad that you all liked the previous chapter. I was worried that people would think I ruined the story.**

**I don't own HP**

**ENJOY!**

It had been a week since school at Hogwarts ended and Arra and Sirius moved into the Noble House of Black. The whole train ride home from school, Arra could hardly sit still due to the anticipation of arriving at King's Cross station. It would be the first time her father came out in public since the release of the _Daily Prophet _notifying the world of his innocence. While she was excited for her life to finally gain some normalcy, she was still nervous about the reactions of some people. She knew that their opinions wouldn't bother Sirius, but she wanted his first day in the world to be special.

When they pulled into the station, she immediately caught sight of her father. He stood in the center of the platform, smiling widely, hardly paying attention to the staring eyes of the people surrounding him. Actually, they weren't _surrounding _him, per say. It was more like they had created a ten foot radius _around _him that no one would enter. But it really didn't seem like he minded. She jumped off the train as soon as it stopped and gave him a huge bear hug.

"Jeez, Arra! It's only been a week!" Sirius laughed.

"Well sorry!" She said sarcastically. "Next time I'll greet you with a monotonous hello and a nice handshake."

He shoved her a little bit as Harry, Ron and Hermione came up to them as well. They shared their greetings as Arra finally got a look around the station. When most people use the word 'everyone', they use it as an exaggeration. Not this time. Literally _everyone _was staring at them. Some with shock, some with hatred, but most just with wide unreadable faces. Arra looked at her father. He had found the time to shave and get his hair cut so he was the handsome man he used to be and not the scraggly Azkaban escapee.

"Ron!" Mrs. Weasley said from somewhere in the crowd.

Arra caught sight of her, waving from a distance over in the corner of the station. She waved back normally, just like she always did. For some reason, Mrs. Weasley's smile faltered a bit when she looked at Arra.

"There's mum." Ron said, rolling his eyes. "Better get going guys."

"Oh wait!" Arra said excitedly. "I want to introduce my dad to your parents!" And she grabbed both of their hands, not waiting for a response and skipped off to where the Weasleys were standing with Harry and Hermione following behind. Every eye followed them as well.

When she approached, Ron's parents looked a bit shocked at first, but Arra was sure that they would accept Sirius and not act weird about it.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Weasley!" Arra said, hugging them as Harry and Hermione did the same. She then grabbed her dad's arm and pulled him forward into the group. "This is my dad, Sirius Black." She beamed.

Sirius said quietly in Arra's ear, "Maybe we should give them time to adjust to my presence before we start making friends--"

"Nonsense!" Arra said with a laugh. "Mrs. Weasley is the nicest person I know! She won't be like everyone else, will you Mrs. Weasley?"

Mrs. Weasley looked uneasily at Arra for a split second before responding with, "Actually dear, we've got quite a busy day ahead of us so we don't really have time to chat." She glanced at Sirius. "But another time perhaps." She smiled at Arra and bustled out of the station with her children following her quickly. Ron looked back at Arra, mouthed a quick 'sorry', and followed his mum.

Arra stared after them with a look of confusion on her face. Harry noticed her sad eyes and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Arra. I thought she would be different too."

Arra sniffed. "No, it's ok. I'm sure that she just had a lot to do. She said we would do it another time." She said, more to convince herself rather than Harry.

Harry smiled, "I'm sure you're right."

Now Arra was sitting up in her new room in Grimmauld place. The silky red sheets of her kings size bed slid off of her as her eyes traveled her new home. Her trunk still sat at the foot of her bed with robes still untidily smashed into it and the remainder of its belongings strewn about the floor (Arra had never been very neat). She had painted the formerly Slytherin green walls to a deep Gryffindor crimson the second she got home and had pinned multiple pictures of her friends and other things on the walls. On one wall hung a large map with push pins stuck in strategic places. Arra had been keeping track of all the places her and Sirius planned to go that summer and all the places she someday wanted to visit on her own. The blue pins were used to show where she wanted to go, and the yellow were reserved for where she had been. As of now, they were all still blue.

Since the Weasleys had reacted badly to her father, Arra had realized that it really was going to take some time for people to accept her father. But she was certain Mrs. Weasley would come around eventually--she always did.

A knock at her door brought her out of her thoughts. "Come in." She called as a small, old house elf came in.

"Breakfast is ready, mistress." Kreacher droned.

"Ok." She said as she walked past him. He muttered something about hating Arra and how she would kiss the shoes of mud bloods if given the opportunity.

She entered the kitchen to find food covering the table, and her father sitting at the end devouring it. Since they had moved in, Sirius had been eating like crazy trying to catch up to the lack of food he suffered for the last 12 years. "Goo' mornin' Arra!" He muffled out with a mouth full of eggs.

She frowned at him. "Slow down, you're going to get heartburn."

He swallowed. "Eat up. We're going to Ireland today."

"Seriously?" She asked, sitting down and grabbing some bacon. "We're not supposed to go until next week?"

He nodded, shoving toast down his throat.

"When did you decide this?"

He shrugged. "About an hour ago."

She frowned for a few seconds before shrugging. "Ok." They had plenty of money, so they could pretty much do whatever they wanted. "I wish Harry was coming too." She said a bit sadly.

Sirius smirked. "I bet you do."

She snatched a pancake and threw it at him. "Hey!" He said.

"You were asking for it."

***

About three hours later, Arra and Sirius were sitting in a fancy hotel room in Ireland, staring out and the green landscape. While Sirius took a shower (lately showering and food had become his obsession, as he had lacked them for so long), Arra wrote a letter to Harry.

_Dear Harry,_

_This morning, Dad had a sudden epiphany and decided to begin our extravagant vacation early, so I'm writing you now from Ireland. It really is beautiful, I'm sorry you aren't here with us. As much fun as I know it's going to be with my dad, it just would have been better with you. I miss you. And Ron and Hermione too. I'm sorry I'm going to miss our annual end of the summer gathering at Ron's house. I think that's when we'll be in Canada (Don't worry, I brought my camera and moose hunting gear). Listen to me! It's only been two weeks and here I am writing to you like a long-lost lover! Haha, but I do really miss you. But not in a loving kind of way. But more like the 'your-my-best-friend' way. Ok , now I'm just rambling. But I think we're going to dinner soon so I'm afraid I have to cut this letter short._

_Love,_

_Arra_

She sealed the envelope and sent it off with one of the hotel's owls. Soon enough, Sirius finished his shower and got dressed and ready for dinner.

"Come on, Arra! We've got to go now!" He shouted from his bedroom of the incredibly large suite they had rented. He walked into her room, "What are you doing?" He asked, confused.

Arra was laying on the king size bed on her back, staring up at the ceiling blankly, still in her lazy traveling clothes. "Square dancing." She said sarcastically.

Sirius grabbed a pillow off the floor and flung it at her. "Go get ready." He said with a smile.

Arra sighed dramatically. "Fine." She said, still not moving from her spot.

Sirius groaned in exasperation, "What's on your mind?"

Without moving from her spot she answered, "Mom."

Taken aback, Sirius was momentarily speechless. "Your mom? What about her?"

"Nothing." Arra said truthfully. "Because that's all I know--nothing. You sort of skipped out before I could get the details, and Bellatrix pretty much banned the subject all together."

Sirius nodded. "Oh, I see." He walked over to the bed and sat down next to her, joining her in watching the ceiling fan spin around. "What do you want to know?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Everything I guess."

Sirius took a deep breath in preparation, and Arra could tell that this was going to be a long story. Maybe she should grab a snack before he gets started? Odds are they were going to miss that fabulous dinner they had reservations for. "I guess I'll start at the beginning."

"No, I'd like to hear it from the end, going backwards please." Arra said with a sarcastic smile.

Sirius glared at her, but was trying to hide a smile. It was remarkable how alike their senses of humor were. "Anyways, where was I? Oh yes, the _beginning._" He said, emphasizing the last word. "I met Violet on the train ride to Hogwarts. She immediately hated me." He smiled, fondly remembering her. "She was the most beautiful person I had ever seen. You look so much like her. Except for you got my ugly dark eyes instead of her gorgeous blue ones."

Arra frowned. "Hey! I like our matching eyes, thank you!"

Sirius scowled at her. "Stop interrupting!" Arra nodded, signaling she would stop.

"But yeah, she was the shyest person in Hogwarts I think when she came. She came from a pureblood family too, so her family kind of expected a lot out of her. But she wasn't the type of person to spend her life trying to please others--she liked to make herself happy. But when she came to school, she was really shy and Lily, Harry's mom, was the only person who befriended her. Eventually as the years went on, she broke out of her shell a bit, but still remained the nicest person in the entire school. It still amazes me that out of all the nice guys there, she picked me."

"Me too." Arra interjected.

"Arra! What did I say about interrupting?!"

"Sorry. Last time--Scout's honor!" She said, putting her hand up in defense.

Sirius sighed. "I remember how we got together. It was in our sixth year. I had always had a crush on her since the day we met, but during school, I was the bad boy that had a new girlfriend every week. By the way, it's guys like _me _that you want to stay _away _from!" He said in a warning tone.

"You've got it backwards. _I'm _the kind of girl that mom's tell their bad boy _sons _to stay awayfrom." Arra smirked.

Sirius laughed. "The sad thing is that you're probably right."

"Would you rather I be like the girls _you _used to date?" Arra asked.

Sirius' eyes widened. "No!" He said sternly. "No! That kind of behavior is…forbidden!"

Arra laughed. "Yes, daddy." She said in her best Pansy Parkinson voice.

He frowned. "I'm serious."

"You're always Sirius!" She giggled. "That never get's old." She said after the laughter subsided.

Sirius waved her off. "Back to the story. But anyways, James knew that I had always liked her, and she had just recently broken up with her Ravenclaw boyfriend. Your mom always liked those smart and sensitive blokes." He said with disgust. "But James decided to set it up so that a bunch of Gryffindors would meet in the Room of Requirement to play truth or dare. It was actually a really fun night. Remus got dared to stand up on the table the next morning at breakfast and recite a love poem to Dumbledore. It was actually quite good too." Arra remembered she would have to bring it up next time she saw Remus. Unfortunately he wouldn't be teaching next year, as Snape had let slip his werewolf-ness. "Ashley McGrady was dared to respond to everything with an Irish jig. And Isabella White had to confess which guy in the room she would most like to have sex with. It was me." He said proudly. Arra rolled her eyes. "So then, after daring Lily to kiss him seven times, James dared me and Violet to go in the closet for seven minutes. So we did, and--"

"EWWW!" Arra squealed. "I don't want to hear about your naughty closet get together!"

Sirius playfully hit her in the stomach with a pillow. "Oh shut up. We just kissed!"

"You're just keeping it G-Rated for the sake of my innocent ears." She accused.

"That's seriously all that happened. We were talking for a few minutes before she said, 'So should we kiss, or what?' I was so taken aback by it, because she was the only girl I really liked, so I didn't want to come on too strong because she was always so shy. But she came onto me. So I told her I liked her, and she didn't even respond. She just kissed me, and then said 'It's about time you realized I'm the only good thing around here'. And since then we were a couple. Most people thought we were odd. The bad boy with the shy goody girl. But we fit each other perfectly. And our parents kinda-sorta approved because we were both purebloods, so they paid for our entire fabulous extravagant wedding the year after we graduated." He said smiling.

"You would take advantage of your parents money!"

"It was her idea." Sirius said defensively. "But after our wedding, she became pregnant with you. And we learned that due to a condition she was born with, it was possible for her to… have major complications in childbirth," Arra noticed how he avoided the word 'die'. "They said the safest way for her was to have an abortion, but she wouldn't have it. She didn't want to give you up." Arra's face fell. Suddenly, she felt guilty for being alive. Like it was her fault that her mother died. "So we went through with it. I don't want to go into detail of it, but labor was…hard for her. They tried to fix it with magic, but it was too late." His voice was breaking now. "S-she knew she wouldn't last. But she held you until s-she…the end. But when she had you, she didn't even look sad about what was coming, she smiled at you and looked the happiest she had ever been. She loved you more than anything in the world." Even with his eyes watering a bit, Sirius smiled at the thought of his wife, and her undying love for others. "She had me take a picture of you two before it happened." He said, fishing in his wallet. He pulled out an old picture and handed it to Arra. There was her mom, dark auburn curls like Arra's and soft crystal blue eyes, smiling happily down at the baby in her arms. Arra looked at her tiny self, staring up at her short-lived mother with interest.

"I'm sorry." Arra said finally in a small voice.

Sirius frowned. "Sorry?"

"It's my fault she's gone. If she just would have gotten rid of me then she would still be here." Arra's voice broke at the end and she blinked back tears.

"Arra." Sirius said sternly. "Don't ever think that thought again. It was not your fault. Your mother and I knew the risks, but we loved you too much already to get rid of you. I miss your mother more than anything, but no way in hell would I ever give you up. And neither would she. I know that wherever she is, she's happy with the outcome, because Violet always cared about the people she loved more than anything. She was glad to leave this world by giving you life. She wouldn't have had it any other way."

Arra tried to smile, but still felt a bit of guilt in the pit of her stomach. She nodded and looked back up at the ceiling. Her and Sirius sat there, staring up, for who knows how long, until Sirius' stomach finally growled. He glanced at the clock on the wall.

"It's nine o'clock." He said, monotonously.

"The ceiling fan has spun around 642 times since the last time we spoke." Arra said randomly, not taking her eyes off the fan.

Sirius lay back down. "Really?" He asked with mild interest.

"Yep."

"Interesting."

And for the rest of the night, they stared at a ceiling, each absorbed in their own thoughts, until they drifted off to sleep, the thought of that fancy dinner melting away into their memory-filled dreams.

**Hope you all liked it. Kinda sad, I know. It was sort of hard to write, because I feel like I know Arra now, and what makes her sad, makes me sad. That probably sounds really lame, but I don't care! Haha. Ok, I'm done rambling now. Review! And I'll give you a whole watermelon. (I'm definitely craving that right now.)**

**Love to you all!**


	19. Of Wishes and Confessions

**Hello everyone! I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update. Almost 2 weeks, unforgivable I know. But I got really sick and was asleep for about a week, and had a lot of homework to catch up on when I got better. I'm sorry that it took this long though, and I hope that you'll still read and review!**

**So in this chapter we see more of Arra and Sirius' amazing road trip that I'm super jealous of and want to go on! And we see Harry's response to Arra's letter from last chapter. And Arra does something very impulsive which she may later regret!**

**So without further rambling, ENJOY!**

**I don't own HP**

It had been a week since Arra and Sirius had left Ireland and began their journey to Italy. Even though it had only been a week on their extreme road trip, Arra was having the time of her life with her dad. They had spent majority of the time of their trip in Ireland looking for leprechauns; they never found any, but that may have been because the leprechauns were too offended at the little people jokes Arra and Sirius kept cracking in extremely bad accents.

Since Sirius had told Arra about her mother, Arra had been a little sad, but figured that the best way to honor her mother was to live her life to the fullest and not let any chances go by.

On this morning, Arra was brushing her hair in the bathroom, getting ready to go and visit the Trevi Fountain in Rome. She heard a soft tapping on the window and saw a white owl perched on the windowsill. Arra rushed over to the hotel window and brought Hedwig inside.

"Oh my goodness, Hedwig! Did you fly all the way to Rome just to give me Harry's response?" She asked, a little disbelieving. She untied the letter from her leg and put out a few of the hotels complimentary nuts for the owl to chew on. "Stay as long as you need to regain your strength." She told Hedwig.

Arra turned her attention back to the letter and saw her name written in Harry's chicken scratch handwriting. And even though it was ugly, she couldn't help but smile. She ripped open the leader and anxiously read:

_Dear Arra,_

_I got your letter, obviously. I'm glad you're having fun in Ireland, or wherever you are now. I think you said a while back that Italy was the next stop after Ireland. I wish I was there. I miss you, a lot. More than you would think probably._

_My summer is going horribly, as always. The muggles are making it a living hell. I wish you were here. You would make it better, you make everything better._

_Sorry to cut this letter short, but I have to make dinner for Dudley now._

_Write back soon. Please._

_Love,_

_Harry_

Arra squealed in excitement like a fan girl when she finished the letter. "_Love_! He wrote _love_, Hedwig!" She said, showing the letter to the owl, even though she knew perfectly well that the bird couldn't understand her. Arra clutched the letter to her chest and spun around on one foot like a happy ballerina.

"Oooh!" Sirius said from the doorway, coming into the room. "Is that from Harry?!"

Arra held onto the letter tighter. "No." She said a bit too quickly.

A grin spread across his face. "Yes it is! Let me read it!" He said with a child's excitement, jumping across the bed to get to her.

"No!" Arra said, running away and snatching a pillow off the bed to use as a weapon. "Go away!" She yelled, repeatedly whacking her father with the fancy, decorative pillow.

"OW! Ar--Arra! Stop it--cut it out!" He yelled in between beatings. Eventually he finally used his brain though and took out his wand. "Accio letter!"

Arra tried to get a good grip on the letter, but it went flying out of her hands. "No fair!"

"I'm the dad, I don't have to be fair." He said matter-of-factly, opening the letter to read it. His eyes scanned it and a large smile appeared on his face. He looked at Arra, trying to keep from smiling too widely, he said, "That's cute."

"Shut up!" She said, snatching the letter back.

"But it is!" He said defensively. "He likes you back, obviously, but you both are too idiotic to do anything about it!"

"I'm not an idiot." Arra said, sitting down at a nearby desk.

Ignoring her, Sirius started, "What are you going to say back?"

"That my father is invading my privacy and that I want to be adopted by monkeys instead and live in the jungle."

"Right, have fun with that. But really, let's write back to him!" Sirius said excitedly.

"Let's? As in us? Like me and you?" Sirius nodded. "Great, my father is going to help me write a letter confessing my love to my best friend!" Arra said sarcastically.

"Fine then." Sirius said snobbily. "I'll just leave you to it." And he left the room with dramatic stomping.

Arra rolled her eyes and laughed at her father. She grabbed a pen and began to write back:

_Dear Harry,_

_Yeah, we're in Italy right now. I really miss you too, and I wish I were there to make things better for you. I would totally kick your fat cousin's ass. _

At this point, Arra was drawing a blank. She wanted to hint to Harry that she liked him, but she didn't want to come on strong enough to scare him away if he didn't like her back. She took a deep breath and continued writing.

_But hey, do you remember before school ended? When we were in the hallway outside Dumbledore's office? Well, I guess I just wanted to know your thoughts on it. Or something, if you even remember. Yeah, well, I have to go. Write back soon._

_-Arra_

"Your thoughts? Who says 'your thoughts'?" A voice behind her said.

"Dad! Go away!! And stop reading my mail!" Arra yelled.

"I'd love to, but we've got to get going." Sirius said matter-of-factly.

Arra set the letter on the desk and got up to put her shoes on. She wasn't planning on sending the letter yet, as she was pretty positive that Hedwig couldn't take the flight. Besides, she wasn't quite sure if she wanted to send it at all yet.

Soon enough, they were out the door and heading to the Trevi Fountain. When they arrived, Arra's breath was taken away. The beauty of the fountain amazed her beyond anything else she had ever seen before. The intricate statues and beautiful artwork left her speechless. Around her, tourists were snapping pictures like crazy and talking to each other in all kinds of different languages. Being around them, in the middle of the craziness, seemed to make her feel, not so…different. None of these people knew the hell that she had been through, and she knew nothing about them. Yet they were all here, for the same reason. And everyone was happy.

Sirius came by her and pressed a couple of galleons into her hand. "Come on!" He said, heading to the front of the group to where people were facing the crowd rather than the fountain. They would close their eyes momentarily before throwing a coin over their shoulder and into the fountain. "Make a wish." Her father said as he did the same.

Arra smiled at his excitement and turned around to make her wish. She closed her eyes and thought, _What should I wish for? I can't really think of anything that I need, and me and dad are together now, so I don't need to wish for that. I'm on the road trip of a lifetime, and I'm happier than I ever have been before. I honestly don't know what to wish for. If Harry was here, he would know. Hey! That's it!_

And with that, she raised her arm and tossed the coin in as she said to herself, _I wish for Harry._

_***_

"What did you wish for?" Sirius asked as they walked along the street, looking for somewhere to eat lunch.

"I can't tell you. Then it won't come true." Arra said.

"Fine then, I'll guess. Was it about Harry?" He asked.

Arra sighed, "I can't tell you."

Sirius pointed at her like he had just solved a crime, "Ah-ha! So it is about Harry then!"

Arra frowned, "How could you possibly know that?"

"Because if it wasn't about Harry, then you would have said, 'No dad, now shut up!'" He said, imitating Arra in a nasily voice.

Arra rolled her eyes. "One, I don't talk like that. Two, why did you look far into my response? Was your wish to be a detective?" She joked.

"No, my wish was for spaghetti." He said truthfully. "And look!" He said pointing to a pasta restaurant. "It came true!"

"That was a stupid wish. We go all the way to the Trevi Fountain to make a wish. A wish for anything in the entire world. Something outrageous that you've always wanted! And you pick spaghetti." She said, following him to the restaurant.

He shrugged. "I have simple wishes. And I like spaghetti."

"But that was a waste of a wish. I mean for Pete's sake, we're in Italy! There's spaghetti everywhere! It would have been at least a little bit interesting if you had wished for a cheeseburger or something!"

"I aim low." He said simply, picking up his menu as they sat down at the table.

"Why?"

"I've learned that you shouldn't expect to much out of life. Because you're going to prison no matter what."

"But everyone always says to 'aim for the stars' and that 'you can be anything you want'", she said repeating all the inspirational posters that you always see in community centers and psychiatrist's offices.

"Well if everyone was what they wanted to be, the world would be filled with astronauts and superstars. Then who would make the sandwiches?" He asked.

She nodded slowly. "So this is your way of telling me that I'm never going to amount to anything. And that I should go into the sandwich business before everyone else?"

He laughed heartily. "Oh, no! Everything I just said only refers to people like _me! _People like you, however, really can do anything they want. I just want you to know how much better you can do than what I did. And I don't want you to settle."

She frowned. "That was a very odd way of telling me, then."

He shrugged. "It just so happens that I'm a very odd person. So you come by it naturally." He beamed.

***

After a day of sightseeing, they headed back to the hotel. When Arra entered her room, she found a small barn owl tapping on her window. She walked over and let it in. "Hello." She said, taking the letter off of it's leg. "I wonder who sent you."

She opened the letter to find familiar handwriting:

_Arra!_

_I can't believe that you're in Italy! There are so many ancient sights and different landmarks there, I'm so jealous about all the information you're learning! _

_But anyways, I'm writing this letter because of some serious business. Now, I'm going to ask you something, and you have to answer truthfully: Do you like Harry or not? Because he's been driving Ron and I mad with all his talk about you. With you not around, he feels like he has to talk about you 24/7 so we all don't forget about you. It's completely obvious that he likes you, so if you like him too, you should just tell him and get on with it already. Because if I have to hear one more sentence about how your hair smells like apples, I'm going to hex that boy into oblivion._

_Write back soon!_

_Love, _

_Hermione_

_P.S I apologize if my rant was rude. I really do miss you and I can't wait to see you again. _

Arra finished the letter with a huge smile spread across her face. This was just the sign she needed to finish her letter to Harry. She ran over to the desk, crumpled up her old letter to him that she had written earlier, and grabbed a fresh piece.

_Harry_

_I'm tired of beating around the bush with all of our innuendos and cute little moments, so I'm just going to say it. I like you. A lot. Like more than a friend. And if you don't feel the same, then it's ok, and I hope that this doesn't ruin our friendship, but I just needed to tell you. Write back soon, if you want. If you have something to say. If you don't, that's fine, just don't reply at all. Or just write back to say hi, or tell me how the weather is or something. Ok, I'm done ranting now._

_Hoping to be more than your friend,_

_Arra_

Arra read the letter through once more and immediately sealed it up in an envelope. She was trying to go as fast as possible, so that she wouldn't back out suddenly. She always tended to do unpleasant or uncomfortable things impulsively and quickly.

"Hedwig," She said, approaching Harry's owl, who was still resting there, "are you ready to fly again?" Hedwig hooted happily and Arra tied the letter to her leg. She carried the owl to the window and held her arm out the window for the bird to fly away. She watched her fly away with a smile on her face. "I can't believe I just did that." She said quietly to herself. She sighed as she plopped down in the desk chair and scrawled a quick reply to Hermione:

_I did it. I told Harry I liked him. If this doesn't work, I blame you. And you'll have to help me come up with a believable story about how I was super drunk when I wrote that letter._

And with that, Arra lay down from a tiring day and fell into a dream filled sleep of a certain scar faced boy.

**Short, I know. But there wasn't anything else that I wanted to put in this chapter. But I hope you all enjoyed it, nonetheless. REVIEW AND YOU MAY HAVE SPAGHETTI WITH SIRIUS BLACK!**

**Oh, and I have a book suggestion if any of you are in need of a good read. Going Bovine by Libba Bray. It's amazing! I laughed so hard in that book that my teacher gave me detention for laughing in class. If you have read it, let me know! And if you haven't, be sure to look into it!**


	20. A Twisted Fate

**Hello! I'm back! After an unforgivable delay! I'm so sorry! But I just had so much going on, I hardly had time to eat! But no matter, I'm back, here with a new chapter that I hope you all will enjoy. We see a bit of a twist so please review!**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter too!**

**ENJOY!**

Arra woke up to the rays of sunlight beaming through the window onto her face. She yawned loudly and sat up. It had been about two weeks since she had sent her revealing letter to Harry. She clutched her stomach; just thinking about it made her nauseas. The fact that it had been two weeks since she sent it and he hadn't responded yet made her nervous. She was now seriously afraid that Hermione had gotten it all wrong and that Harry didn't like her at all. Therefore, Arra had just ruined her friendship with Harry by sending that letter and now he was afraid to send a reply at all.

She groaned in exasperation as she walked over to the window to look outside. She parted the curtains to see the green trees of Canada meet her. Today was their last day here, which made Arra even more upset, as this had been her favorite place of all. They were set to go to New York that afternoon. While in Canada, Arra made it her mission to meet as many Mounties and moose as possible. Total count: Mounties-12, moose-4. Honestly, she was quite happy with her trip. Her favorite part was when a ramped moose tried to eat Sirius' bacon. Did you know that their bacon here in Canada is actually ham? Weird, huh?

She glanced at the clock. 10:00 am. Check out was at noon, so she decided to begin getting ready. After taking a long shower, she started grabbing her clothing that was strewn about the room and began stuffing it into her suitcase. While picking up a large pile of socks, she suddenly heard a tap at the window. Her head snapped up and stared wide-eyed at a familiar white owl with a letter tied to it's leg.

"Oh shit." Arra breathed as a fresh wave of nausea came rushing back to her. She gulped and shakily stood to walk over to the window. Her trembling fingers unlatched the window and Hedwig jumped into the room, holding out her leg for Arra to take the letter. The girl let out a deep breath and untied it, all the while praying silently that Harry was writing back to tell her that he had never gotten her letter and he was just wondering why she wasn't writing to him anymore.

She shut her eyes tightly as she broke the seal on the envelope and unfolded the letter. Holding it out in front of her, ready to read, she opened her eyes:

_Arra,_

_Thanks for your last letter, I suppose. I'm not really sure how to start this letter because I really wasn't expecting you to write that._

Arra could feel tears starting to well up in the back of her eyes but kept on reading.

_But I'm glad you did. Because I like you too._

"YES!!!!" Arra shouted with a huge grin on her face. She was no longer afraid to finish the letter.

_I was nervous to tell you because I didn't want to ruin our friendship. I would rather have you as just my best friend than not have you at all. Although I am a little jealous that you had the guts to tell me first. I always thought that guys were supposed to ask the girls out? Oh, that's right; you didn't actually _ask _me out. You just said that you fancied me. So, I still get to do the guy thing. _

_Arra, will you be my girlfriend?_

_Hoping to be your boyfriend, _

_Harry_

Arra read the letter over and over again, not believing what it had said. The entire time the gigantic grin had never left her face. After reading every line thoroughly, and making sure she understood correctly, she started to jump around screaming like a fan girl. She got up on the bed and jumped around singing a new song she had suddenly made up

"Harry's my boyfriend! Harry's my boyfriend! Harry's my boyfriend!"

Yeah, her songwriting skills aren't very good.

"Arra!" Sirius yelled, coming into her room. He looked at her with a confused face, "What are you doing?"

She skipped over to him and thrust the letter in his face. "Read that!"

His eyes scanned the page and soon he grew the same humongous grin that Arra had. "This is great!"

"I know!" She said, taking the letter back. "I need to reply right away."

"Actually, we have to go. Check out is soon."

She glanced at the clock. 11:45. She sighed sadly.

"You can reply as soon as we get to New York." Sirius said, grabbing her bag and walking out the door.

Arra smiled again as she looked at the letter. "Hedwig," she turned to the owl. "You can go ahead and head back to Harry. I'll use one of the Wizard Hotel's owls to send my reply. Hedwig hooted in understanding as she jumped onto Arra's arm.

The ever smiling Arra walked to the window and held out her arm for the owl to take flight. She caught a breath of fresh air as she leaned out the window to enjoy the Canadian scenery. She glanced back at the letter and back to the wilderness. "I knew there was a reason I wanted to come to Canada so bad. I love it here."

***

Arra and Sirius had been using the floo network to get around to all the different countries. Sirius would contact all of their Magical Governments to make the arrangements. Now, here in America, they had come into their System, and were soon sent on their way out of the magical building to their hotel.

Walking down the street, Arra was fascinated by all of the strange sights of New York City. It was like Diagon Alley, but a hundred times better! (Shocking, I know.) With all the hustle and bustle, it was hard to tell exactly what was going on. Which is how the next events occurred:

Out of the corner of her eye, Arra spotted a dark alleyway. Inside were two men, speaking in harsh tones. Arra tugged on Sirius' arm and showed him the scene. Suddenly, the two men began to fight quite violently. Arra and Sirius were too shocked to do anything about it until one of the men hit the other with a last punch. The injured man fell to the ground, not moving, and the other ran away.

"Hey!" Sirius yelled. This got some other's peoples attention and they all saw what was happening. A bunch of people came running over to the motionless man and they grabbed nearby payphones to call the police.

"Let's go." Arra muttered, trying to push Sirius to keep moving.

"What?" Sirius asked, disbelieving.

Arra stared at him, "You just got out of prison, a crime scene and publicity in another country is not something you need right now. Under other circumstances, I would stay, but there are plenty of people here to help. So our number one priority is to keep you as far away from any type of law enforcement as possible. Even though you're innocent, it doesn't mean they have to treat you that way."

Sirius considered this for a moment before agreeing and continued walking down the street. Eventually, they reached the their hotel and checked into their rooms.

Arra entered her room, threw her bags onto the bed and sat down to write her response to Harry immediately. She could hardly sit still as she pulled out the letter to read it again once more. She smiled and heaved a big sigh, just like a lovesick puppy would. She set the letter down and grabbed a fresh sheet from her notebook and a pen. She was about to touch the tip to the paper when Sirius crashed through the door.

"Look out your window!" He came running into her room, heading straight for the wall the overlooked the city.

"What are you doing?!" She asked incredulously.

Sirius threw open the curtains, "Come here!" He said impatiently.

Arra reluctantly got up and came to the window. "Whoa." She breathed when she saw the sight below her. "Is that?…"

"Yeah."

It was the alleyway they had passed when coming up to the hotel. It was now taped off with yellow tape and surrounded by about five police cars and a large crowd.

"Oh crap." Sirius muttered.

Arra blinked. "What? Why oh crap? What's wrong?!"

"Well obviously something really bad happened down there! And we just left, Arra! We didn't do anything!" Sirius shouted.

"Well what could we in particular have done?! There were about a hundred other people down there who came rushing over to help! And don't say we could have done magic, because you know we can't do that! Why are you freaking out so much?" Arra yelled back.

Sirius shook his head, "Well don't you feel bad at all?"

"Of course I feel bad! What do you think I am? Heartless?" Arra asked. "But really, I had to take control of the situation because you were over there panicking like a fish out of water. My main priority was to get you _out _of a crime scene. It is _not _where you need to be now."

Sirius looked out the window again. "I hope everyone is all right." He muttered.

Suddenly, there was a knock at the hotel door. Arra frowned but went to open the door anyways.

"Can I help you?" She asked the two men as she opened the door. They were quite large and muscular, with strange black uniforms on and badges.

"That's her!" A short little woman squeezed between them shouted as she pointed at Arra.

"Excuse me?" Arra asked incredulously, giving them an evil glare. "What do you want?"

"Ma'am, were you present at the crime scene out in the street just a few minutes ago?" One of the large men asked. Arra could now read his badge clearly. It said the letters NYPD.

"Yes, but I didn't do anything."

"What's going on?" Sirius said, coming up behind Arra.

"Did you see what happened? The attack I mean?" The police officer asked.

"Yes, but again, we didn't do anything."

The officer put his hands up in a surrendering manner. "We're not accusing you of anything. But it seems as if the two of you were the only two who witnessed the attack. You're going to need to come with us."

"What?! No way! Why do you need us? There were plenty of people down there who saw it too! Go get one of them!" Arra yelled.

"They didn't notice what was going on until after the attacker left. This woman," he said, gesturing to the lady between them, "saw the two of you there and thought maybe you saw something."

"Ok, so we'll just tell you what we saw." Sirius said.

"We're going to need to go down to the station to fill out some paperwork. So you'll need to come with us."

Arra sighed. "How long is this going to take?"

The police officers looked at each other, silently communicating their thoughts to one another. Officer 2 looked at Arra, "It depends. We'll go as fast as we can."

Arra looked back at the desk where she had left Harry's letter, waiting for a response. "Fine. But let's hurry."

***

"Oh my God! How long does it take to fill out that damn paperwork!" Arra shouted from the uncomfortable plastic chair she was sitting in. Her and Sirius had gone to the downtown station for questioning, but the officers were taking quite a while. And she was anxious to reply to Harry's letter.

"Arra, be quiet. You yelling is not going to make this go any faster." Sirius said in a serious tone.

"A-hem." A cough nearby caught their attention. It was officer 2, who Arra learned was actually Officer Dancy. "Can the two of you please follow me into the interrogation room please? We've got something we need to discuss.

Arra and Sirius looked at each other, shrugged, and followed him inside the small, dark room with a one way mirror on the far wall. They sat down in the chairs.

"So, can we leave yet?" Arra asked presumptuously. Sirius kicked her under the table.

Officer Dancy coughed, "Um, not yet I'm afraid. It seems that the police have the attacker in custody. They caught him shortly after the two of you were brought in."

"Great! So we can go then, right?" Arra asked, slowly rising out of her chair.

"Please, let me finish." The officer continued. "In order to sentence him and put him in prison, there must be a fair trial. Unfortunately, you are the only two witnesses, so it is mandatory for you to be at the trial."

"Well, when will the trial be?" Sirius asked.

Dancy sighed, "In a murder trial such as this, it could take days, weeks, or even months."

"Murder?" Sirius asked.

"Yes, sadly, the man in the alleyway died from loss of blood."

"Oh my God." Arra said quietly. She now felt horrible for not stopping to help. Even though there was nothing she could have done, she still felt guilty.

"Yes, so as you can see, we definitely want this guy put behind bars."

"Of course. We'll do anything to help." Sirius said. "When will the trial be?"

"It's dated to be about 3 months from now." Dancy said, shuffling through the paperwork. "As we know, you're not really from around here, so we'll be setting you up with some living quarters until the trial. It's policy that you can't really leave the country during this time."

At this, Arra stood up, "What?! You can't just expect us to stay here for 3 months! I'll have school by then! I have a life! I have to write a very important letter!" She rambled on loudly, just shouting out things that came to her head.

Dancy put his hands up, "I know that this is difficult. We will try to go as fast as possible, but you must understand that this is very important."

Sirius, obviously agitated, but staying silent (due to his former run-ins with the law) tugged on Arra's sleeve to make her sit down.

"And about your school, we contacted the British Prime Minister, and I suppose they've sent someone to come see you about it. They said he works here in America." Dancy explained as he stood up and opened the nearby door. He talked to some people standing out there before finally moving aside and letting an elderly, oddly-dressed man enter the room in his place.

"Dumbledore? What are you doing here?" Arra, totally surprised, asked her headmaster as he closed the door behind him.

"Nice to see you too, Arra. How's your summer going?" Dumbledore asked with a smile as he took a seat opposite Sirius and Arra.

"Peachy keen." She said sarcastically. "Please tell me you can do something about this?"

The old man sighed, "I cannot. As soon as England's Prime Minister was notified of the situation, he let me know and I apparated here to sort it out. But, I'm afraid you'll have to stay here until the trial. I know that will probably mean you'll miss some of school, but I will make an exception for you. Besides, I feel you won't miss very much curriculum as there is a special event happening at Hogwarts this year that will most likely have students a bit distracted from their studies."

Arra groaned and slammed her head on the table.

"We can still do magic, right?" Sirius asked a bit worried. Arra knew that Sirius could hardly tie his own shoelaces without the help of a wand.

"Of course. You'll just have to keep it secret."

A thought popped into Arra's head. "What about my friends? Will I be able to write to them and tell them what's going on?" She was suddenly very worried about her response to Harry's letter.

"I and the President of Magic here in America think it would be best if you kept to yourselves for now. I will notify Harry, Ron, and Hermione of the situation."

Arra's stomach dropped. This means she wouldn't be able to write to Harry. She couldn't answer his question. She would be stuck here, in a safe house for three months. She wouldn't go back to school until at least October. She had to testify in a case that didn't even involve her, but was going to change her life. But of course, she wanted to put that murderer behind bars, so she was willing to help. But she didn't think it would be this much trouble.

Later, Arra and Sirius were taken to a large house with a lot of fun things to do. Apparently the government felt pretty bad about their situation and gave them a nice house to live in for compensation. But Arra hardly noticed. She climbed the stairs in silence, walked straight into the first bedroom she saw, plopped down on the bed and cried.

It almost seemed as if she cried endlessly for the next three months.

**Sad, I know. But I wasn't going to deprive you all of the drama I know you enjoy! ;) So review! You may have pumpkin pie!**


	21. Competition

**Hello all! Back, I am. Woo hoo! Hardly any delay at all for this chapter! Be proud of me ;) Thanks to all of you who reviewed last chapter. Especially Jokegirl! Who is now officially my favorite person on FanFiction! I wish I could throw a parade for her. : )**

**Enjoy!!!!**

3 Months Later…

On the morning of October 30th, Arra awoke with a smile. Today was the day she would be going home, and back to school that night. The trial had finally ended yesterday and that evil man had been put in prison, just as they had hoped. Arra felt good about helping out the victim and his family, but was anxious to go home. She was even more anxious about finally seeing Harry again. She had never gotten a chance to reply to his letter, but she was sure he understood her situation and was waiting for her.

Arra got up out of bed, took a quick shower and got dressed. She had packed all of her bags last night, as she was anticipating their departure. Sirius came into her room with his bags all packed as well and told Arra that they were to meet a car that the Magical Government had sent for them to go to a proper floo-ing network location. Since Arra could not apparate yet, they would have to floo.

Arra grabbed her bags and headed down the stairs to the car that was sitting in the driveway. Before she knew it, she was walking into a fireplace and yelling, "Ministry of Magic, London!" Her head swirled as her vision was clouded with green flames, but soon was back to normal as she was spit out into a familiar scene. People were bustling around, not even noticing Arra as she stood there with a smile, just elated to be home. Sirius came out of the fireplace shortly after her and the two checked in with a woman at a desk, just to let the Minister know that their situation was resolved and they were home safely (Not like that sack of dung would have cared about either of them).

Within a few hours, Arra and Sirius were entering their home, Grimmauld Place. They had meant to buy another house over the summer after their trip, but were delayed and therefore were still living in Sirius' old house. Most likely, they would look for one next summer, or Sirius would look on his own during the school year. Even though number 12, Grimmauld Place was horrible, Arra was delighted to see the familiar heads of house elves mounted on the walls and the many cobwebs and gaudy, ornamented furniture. She went upstairs to her room and immediately threw open her suitcase and school trunk to start packing for her school year. She had borrowed Sirius' wand so that she could quickly clean her dirty clothes with magic without being caught by the ministry. Sirius usually loaned Arra his wand so that she could do things on her own without the ministry catching them. Arra packed her robes, lots of extra clothes, her school books, and other things she would need for the semester. In addition, she grabbed her picture of a moose she took, a picture of her and her dad waving in front of the Trevi Fountain, and the picture of her and her mother that Sirius had given her.

After fully packing her trunk, she hauled it downstairs to where Sirius was waiting.

"Jeez, that was fast." Sirius said, glancing at the clock. It was now 5 o'clock. They had barely arrived home 40 minutes ago.

"I want to go! I've been stuck in a foreign place for three months with nothing to do but talk to lazy Americans! (A/N: I'm a lazy American myself. I'm not trying to offend anyone!) I even think I've adopted their accents a bit!" Arra said impatiently, bouncing on her toes, waiting to leave.

Sirius stood up slowly and walked around the table to grab her trunk. "You just want to see Harry." He muttered.

Arra frowned, "Oh, shut up. Did you call a car like you were supposed to?"

Sirius waved her off. "No. We're just going to apparate."

"Hello? Not 17 over here." She said, pointing to herself.

He shrugged. "Side-Along. They'll never know. We can go straight to Hogsmeade, and it'll be faster this way. The sooner you can see your boyfriend!"

They had exited the house and were standing in the street waiting to go. "He's not my boyfriend." She grumbled as she grabbed his arm tightly. "Let's go though."

Sirius nodded with a sarcastic smile. "Okay. Whatever you say." And off they went with the familiar pull behind her navel dragging her into a space time continuum. She felt suspended in mid-air before having her feet slam firmly into the ground. Arra regained her balance and opened her eyes to the familiar scene of Hogsmeade around her. She had only been here once before when her and Harry had snuck in last year and gotten into a heated argument. Arra usually tried to block that memory when she thought of this place or Harry.

After quite a long walk, they had reached the gates of Hogwarts, where a familiar old man was waiting for them.

"Good evening, Arra, Sirius." Dumbledore said politely, nodding to each of them in turn.

"Hi, Professor." Arra chirped, glad to be back.

"Evening, Dumbledore." Sirius said, shaking the headmaster's hand.

Arra turned to Sirius to say her goodbyes. "Well, I guess I'll see you later." She said.

"It feels weird, you know. I just got you back, and now I have to send you off again." Sirius said sadly.

"What are you talking about? We just spent the whole summer together."

He laughed, "I know that, but I've got a lot of parenting I have to make up for twelve years in Azkaban."

"Well, you're off to a good start." She smiled at him as they embraced for a goodbye hug.

"See you for Christmas." He said as she headed through the gates with Dumbledore. They continued waving until he was blocked from her view by the fog.

"So, what have I missed this year so far?" Arra asked her headmaster.

He shrugged. "Not much. We have a pretty important event approaching, but I'm sure that Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger will fill you in. How was your summer?"

"Amazing aside from the whole murder trial thing. But it did give me more time to spend with my dad, so I'm grateful for that." Arra said truthfully.

"That's splendid." Dumbledore said with a smile.

"Yeah, but I'm happy to be back."

Dumbledore pushed open the great oak doors to the inside of the awesome castle. "I'll send your trunk up to your room," He flicked his wand and the case vanished. "I'll leave you to carry your remaining bags up and meet up with your friends. I'm sure you're anxious to see them. Oh by the way, the password right now is _baubles._" He smiled.

"Yes, sir. Thank you. I'll see you for dinner soon." She picked up her backpack and purse, the only two items besides her oversized trunk and began to climb the many stairs.

Arra waved to familiar people she saw on her way up, but didn't stop to talk. She was very excited to see her friends and didn't want to delay their reunion on bit.

"Oh hello, dear!" The Fat Lady said when Arra approached. "I was wondering where you had been this year!"

"Thanks," Arra said sincerely. "I'd love to stay and chat, but I'd really like to unpack and get settled before dinner and stuff. Oh, _baubles._" The Fat Lady looked a bit upset that Arra wanted to leave so quickly, but swung the portrait open anyways.

Arra took a deep breath and climbed through the hole and entered the familiar Gryffindor Common Room. However, she didn't see much of it, because she was immediately tackled in a hug.

"Arra!" The voice of George Weasley yelled at her as she hugged him back. Right after she was pulled into a hug by his twin.

"We were wondering when you'd get back! We need new joke ideas, and someone to keep Hermione off our tails! Since you've been gone, I think she's made it a personal goal to get us as many detentions as possible." Fred said quickly.

Arra laughed at her two favorite twins, "It's great to see you guys! I've missed you too! Believe me, I've missed everything about this place. You never realize how much you love school until you can't go to it."

Fred and George exchanged disbelieving looks. "Just give it a week, and you'll be back to your normal self. Ditching class and blowing off homework assignments."

"Our little protégé." Fred remarked thoughtfully.

"Hermione will be so proud." George joined him in the joke.

Arra went around to greet the other Gryffindors and meet the new ones. They were all pleased to see her, but Arra was looking for someone in particular. Three people, actually.

"Arra?!" A voice from the portrait hole shrieked. Arra turned around just in time to have a giant mass of frizzy brown hair come crashing into her. "ARRA!" Hermione shouted happily. Arra embraced her best friend and the two stayed like that for quite sometime before Hermione finally pulled away and placed her hands on Arra's shoulders.

"I'm so glad you're back. These boys are driving me _insane_!" She said intensely.

"Stop being so dramatic, Hermione." A red headed boy said as he pushed Hermione aside to hug Arra himself.

"Jeez, I come back after three months and you two can't even stop arguing for two minutes!" Arra laughed as she squeezed Ron in a tight hug.

"It's her fault!" Ron said. "She thinks that Harry and I are total rubbish without her guiding."

The bickering continued and Arra just rolled her eyes. _Welcome home, _she thought. The three of them then sat down on the couch to talk about everything.

"Where is Harry, by the way?" Arra tried to ask casually.

Ron and Hermione exchanged a look. Arra couldn't exactly tell if it was good or bad. "He's in the library, he'll be back soon though. But in the meantime, tell us about your summer! Tell us everything!"

Arra nodded. She went into detail about all the places they had been, and all the fun they had had. She talked about how spending all of that time with her dad was really good and had brought them a lot closer. And she told them about the trial and stuff and that was the reason she couldn't write to any of them. They assured her that they suspected that was why she wouldn't respond to any letters.

"So, how are things at Hogwarts? I've heard some talk about a special event or something along those lines?" Arra asked when she was done with her speech.

Their eyes widened, "You don't know?" Ron asked, disbelieving. "They're having the Triwizard Tournament!"

Arra's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding me? Really?! Like the real Triwizard Tournament? Like with dangerous stuff and other schools and someone usually dies?" She asked excitedly.

"Yeah!" Ron said, matching her excitement.

Arra clapped her hands. "Awesome! Did you enter your names? Did you enter _my _name?! Oh, you _better _have entered my name!" She said in a warning tone.

Hermione put up her hands, "Arra, no, we didn't enter any of our names." Arra opened her mouth to complain but Hermione cut her off. "They changed the rules, you have to be 17 to enter."

Arra frowned. "What?! That's stupid. Hogwarts never lets us have any fun." She crossed her arms over her chest and slumped into the couch.

"I suppose it's because too many people died, like you said. And why are you so eager to face death, anyway?" Hermione asked.

"Because it's the Triwizard Tournament, Hermione!" Ron said. Arra nodded fervently.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "I don't understand why it's so appealing."

Now it was Ron and Arra's turn to roll their eyes and sigh, "Muggle borns." They said together.

The three friends shared a laugh together and talked more about the tournament. Arra learned that two new school of magic were to be joining them this year called Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. She also learned that the four champions would be chosen tomorrow night after dinner.

"So, when will Harry be coming back?" Arra tried to task nonchalantly. "I really need to talk to him about something."

Hermione and Ron exchanged that same strange look again. "Um, Arra, there's something we need to tell you about Harry. Your letter--"

Hermione was cut off by the sound of someone coming through the portrait hole. Arra whipped around to see a scarfaced boy with jet black hair and green eyes come through. His eyes widened when he caught sight of her, his emotion unreadable. Without a word, Arra stood up, walked over to him and snaked her arms around his neck, fitting herself into the shape of his body. He wordlessly wrapped his arms around her waist as well and pulled her closer to himself. Arra breathed in his scent and her stomach did a backflip. This felt right, being here. She hadn't realized how much she had missed him until she was pressed against his body. He had changed a bit, but only physically. She could tell he was gaining muscle, as he was much more built than the last time they saw each other. He had also grown his hair out a little, but not enough to make him look like a hippie. He was perfect, just as he had always been.

Eventually, they pulled apart and stared at each other.

A smile spread across Harry's face, "Arra, I'm so happy you're back."

She beamed, "Me too."

"When did you get here?"

"About an hour ago. Hermione and Ron have been filling me in on everything about school and the tournament and such." Arra replied.

He nodded, "Good. So you'll be joining us for dinner then?"

"Yeah, but first, I sort of wanted to talk to you in private--" Arra said in a hushed voice.

"Arra, why don't we take your bags up to the dormitory now?" Hermione interrupted with a frantic voice.

Arra frowned, "Uh, sure." Confused at Hermione's reaction, she turned back to Harry, "I'll see you at dinner. We can talk later."

Harry nodded, "Yeah, of course."

Hermione tugged at Arra's arm and practically dragged her up the stairs to the dormitory. It was empty of their other roommates, which Arra was thankful for; she wanted to know why Hermione was being so weird. She dropped her bags on her bed and turned to the bushy haired girl, "What was that about?"

Hermione cringed and bit her lip, "There's something you need to know before you go off trying to get Harry back."

"Back? What do you mean _back_?" Arra interjected.

Hermione sat down next to her. "After you sent Harry your first letter, he told both Ron and I and told us about his response. Then, after you didn't respond to that, he figured you didn't like him anymore."

"I couldn't! I was stuck there!" Arra said.

Hermione put a hand on her best friend's shoulder, "I know. But Harry was really upset until Dumbledore told us what was going on. Then he totally understood everything and decided he was going to wait for you. But, we didn't really know how long you were going to be there, and you can't really expect him to wait around forever."

"Ok…" Arra urged on.

"When we got back to school, Ron and I started noticing that Harry was looking at this certain Ravenclaw girl differently. And well, we think he may have…moved on."

Arra stared, "Moved on?"

Hermione gave her a sad look, "I'm sorry."

Arra stood up suddenly. "He can't have just _moved on. _He wouldn't. You must be mistaken, Hermione. I don't think Harry would have done that to me." Arra rambled, trying to convince herself, more than Hermione.

Hermione nodded slowly, "Look, it's getting late, we should get down to dinner."

"Yeah, sure." And the two girls walked back down to the common room to where the boys were waiting.

"So, you wanted to talk?" Harry said as they walked to the Great Hall. They had fallen a few steps behind Ron and Hermione, as the two were having their usual bicker.

"Oh, um, it's nothing important, we can talk later." She smiled at him. She had purposely postponed their conversation until she was sure Hermione was wrong.

They entered the Great Hall, and many eyes turned to Arra. Apparently this was becoming a usual entrance for Arra whenever she entered this room, as it happened often last year. Except for this time, everyone was pleased to see her, and she went around to make her hellos to everyone she missed.

As she was saying hello to Seamus and Dean, her eyes fell on a platinum blond haired boy at the Slytherin table who was looking at her with disbelief. She locked eyes with Draco and held them for a few solid seconds before giving him a small smile and a wave. He returned the gesture, but didn't take his eyes off her when she looked away.

Arra gulped. She had almost forgotten about Draco entirely. Over the summer, she had thought she definitely chosen Harry, but now that she had seen him again, a familiar butterfly sensation came back. But she was sure that was just because she was nervous.

Harry, Ron, Hermione and Arra all took their seats at the Gryffindor table and began to eat. Arra kept a watchful eye on Harry, just to see if he was looking at anyone in particular. She was aware that she was probably being paranoid, but she didn't want to go telling him she still had feelings for him when he was pining for another.

However, he was eating his dinner calmly and normally, talking to his friends and acting like he always did. He turned to his right to shoot a smile at Arra. She returned the gesture until she saw his eyes quickly avert their gaze from hers and look towards the entrance of the hall. She whipped her head around just in time to see about five Ravenclaw girls come into the hall. Her eyes immediately fell on the one who was looking this way--Cho Chang. Arra knew who she was, but didn't talk to her or anything. But now she suddenly hated this girl, just for looking at Harry with her little flirty smile. Arra wanted nothing more than to slap it right off her face.

The auburn haired Gryffindor girl turned away from the Asian girl, as her cute little smile was making Arra sick. She quickly glanced at Harry just to have her nausea rise even more. He was looking at Cho with a love struck face. The same face many boys make at Arra, herself. The same face _he, _Harry, used to make at her. The same face she used to make at him.

Arra's eyes sadly dropped to the mashed potatoes on her plate as realization hit her. She now had the one thing she never wanted to have when it came to guys. Especially Harry. _Competition. _

**Back to school! I hope you all enjoyed it! Review please. And by the way, I really appreciate all the reviews you guys have given me. They encourage me to keep writing. You are all so positive and always have nice things to say to me. And if you don't, you give it in constructive criticism, which I really do appreciate. I'm so glad I have reviewers who aren't rude, disrespectful and just plain mean. I guess I just wanted to let you guys know how much I appreciate you. =)**


	22. Jealousy and Champions

**Hey y'all! Thanks for all the wonderful reviews for the last chapter! I'm glad you all are enjoying this so much! Sorry for the horrible delay. Unforgivable, I know. But hey, it's Christmas!**

**It was also pointed out to me that I accidentally put 4 champions instead of 3 in the last chapter! I wanted to apologize and let you all know that I did mean 3! But you all knew what was going to happen anyways so, eh. Haha!**

**So ENJOY!**

**I don't own HP**

Arra lay in her four poster bed at Hogwarts in the early morning, staring at the ceiling. Her first night back, she thought, would have been memorable and amazing. Instead, while it was still memorable, it was far from amazing. She sniffed and wiped her sleeve across her nose. Arra had returned to Hogwarts thinking that there would be this romantic, long-awaited relationship just waiting for her, instead she got a heavy slap in the face. She sniffed again and turned on to her side, pulling her knees into her stomach to a ball position. She should have assumed that Harry would have found someone else. Hermione was right, she couldn't expect for him to wait for her forever.

Her thoughts drifted to Cho Chang. The frowned as her pretty little face came to the Gryffindor girl's mind. How dare she pull Harry's affection to herself? Who did she think she was? Just because she was in Ravenclaw, she thought she was smarter than Arra, and therefore better for Harry? Of course, how did Arra even know if Cho liked Harry at all? Arra rolled back onto her back with a thump and let out her breath; thinking about something like this could really drive a person crazy. She sat up and threw the covers off, slipping her feet into some slippers, she walked to the desk to write a letter.

_Dad,_

_I have bad news, I'm afraid. I'll keep it short and simple, mostly because it sort of hurts to talk about it. It seems as if Harry has "moved on" from me. I guess he fancies this Ravenclaw girl, Cho Chang instead of me. That's pretty much it. Oh, and the Triwizard Tournament is here this year, but I'm not allowed to enter because you have to be seventeen. Too bad. I could really go for some life threatening danger to get my mind off of this._

_Love, _

_Arra_

She sealed the envelope and made a mental note to borrow Hedwig from Harry.

_Harry._

She frowned again as she thought about him. She couldn't help but be angry at him. She knew it was petty and selfish, but she really didn't care. She was too upset to care.

"Arra?" Hermione said, waking up sleepily. "You're up awfully early."

Arra shrugged, "I couldn't sleep."

Hermione made a sympathetic face, "You're still thinking about him, aren't you?"

Arra sighed, "I can't really help it. I've tried not to, but it's…hard."

Hermione nodded, "I imagine it is. And, I'm sorry. I wish there was something I could do."

Arra gave a small smile, "That depends on if you're willing to get a few detentions. I'm sure Fred and George would be more than happy to provide us with us some…_gifts _for Miss Chang."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "No, Arra."

She scrunched her nose and made a mean face, "You're no fun, Hermione."

Hermione said in a quiet voice, "I am too fun."

Arra laughed and got up to get ready for the day. It was Halloween which meant that the 3 champions would be chosen tonight at dinner. Arra picked out some tight fitting jeans and a long sleeve black shirt. After applying some makeup and attempting to tame the frizzyness in Hermione's hair, they headed down to the common room.

"Happy Halloween!" Ron said as they met up in the common room with the boys. Harry gave Arra a smile, which she did not return. Harry looked a bit confused, but let it slide.

Hermione gently tugged on Arra's sleeve and whispered, "Try to act normal, ok?"

Arra nodded in agreement, but still had to force her feet to walk normally instead of "accidentally" kicking Harry in the shin. As they were walking into the Great Hall, a familiar voice called to Arra.

"Hey, Arra!" Draco Malfoy was coming up a set of stairs that led down to the dungeon and was now waving her over

Arra waved and started walking towards him. "Whoa, where are you going?" Harry asked her.

Arra turned to him. "Excuse me?" She asked rudely.

"You're still talking to _Malfoy_?" He asked, disbelieving.

Arra stared at him, "Yes." She answered shortly. "Is that a problem?"

"Uh, yeah! He's nothing but bad news, Arra. Stay away from him." He answered back with authority.

Arra glared at Harry with cold eyes, "Oh, I'm sorry, Great Harry Potter! I forgot that your word is law. Please forgive my ignorance and freethinking!" She answered sarcastically.

"Arra, I'm serious, _don't talk to him. _You weren't there at the Quidditch World Cup. He was involved in some really bad stuff." Harry said sternly, getting close to Arra's face.

She looked up into his eyes and scowled. "What gives you the right to tell me what to do?"

"Because I'm your friend." He replied with a similar tone.

"That's right. You're _just _my friend. Nothing more." Arra finished as she stepped away from their conversation, leaving Harry staring at her with bewilderment.

She stomped away huffing with anger until she reached Draco.

He frowned a bit, "Everything ok?"

Arra sighed and shook her head, as if to rid her head of her previous thoughts. "I'm fine. Just…boy problems, I suppose." She shrugged.

He made a face, "Is Potter bothering you?"

"No. Not anymore he won't."

He smirked, "Good. I won't have any of these bloody idiots trying to mess around with you."

She frowned, "Mess around? Is that jealousy I detect in your voice, Mr. Malfoy?"

He only smiled wider, "If you want it to be."

Arra cocked her head to the side, a little taken aback by his response. She glanced around the entrance hall, and locked eyes with a pair of emerald green eyes, staring at her intensely. She smiled her sinister, trademark half smirk at Harry and turned back to Draco.

"Do you want to hang out later? After the champions are chosen? We can go down to the lake or something." Arra asked, putting on the flirtatious charm.

"Definitely." He nodded and led her into the Great Hall, where almost everyone was already assembled. This was the first time Arra got a glimpse of the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, as she had been gone when they arrived, and for the unveiling of the Goblet of Fire and the entrance of names. She waved to a few good looking Durmstrang boys on her way to the Gryffindor table, where she sat next to Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Hermione leaned over to whisper in Arra's ear. "What was all that about?"

Arra played it cool, "What was what?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You know what I'm talking about. You and Malfoy. Harry was almost going bonkers over here!" She said with exasperation.

Arra smirked, "Good."

Hermione opened her mouth to scold Arra, but closed it when they noticed Dumbledore approach the front of the room to stand next to the Goblet of Fire, placed gracefully at the head of the room.

"Good evening to you all! I expect that the Goblet of Fire is almost ready to chose it's champions, most likely another minute. Once the three champions have been chosen, you will enter through that back door over there," he motioned to behind the staff table, "where you will be given further instructions."

"I hope it's Angelina!" Fred whispered to the Gryffindors sitting around him.

"I'm still angry that we weren't given a chance to enter." Arra grumbled. Ron nodded in agreement. "I definitely would have won."

Harry scoffed, "Oh please, Arra. You would have been blown to bits within two minutes of the competition."

Arra turned to face him with a frown. "Oh really? And you think you could do better?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, I won't get a chance, will I? And neither will you, so you should just let it go."

Her eyes narrowed, "Don't tell me what to do." She growled and turned back around just in time to see the Goblet of Fire spit out a show of colorful flames along with a small piece of parchment.

The room fell silent as Dumbledore scrutinized it. "The champion from Durmstrang will be Viktor Krum!"

Cheers erupted around the room as the stocky young man marched to the front of the room and through the back door. They died quickly though, as the Goblet almost immediately began to fire up again, ejecting another piece of parchment.

"The champion from Beauxbatons will be Flear Delacour!" Dumbledore announced as the beautiful girl rose up from her seat and followed Viktor into the back room. As she walked, all of the boys in the hall, Ron in particular, hooted wildly. Arra glanced at Hermione, who was glaring after the girl while switching her glance to Ron as well.

"Oh, shut up." Hermione grumbled under her breath and rolled her eyes. Arra gave her a sympathetic pat on the back.

"The Hogwarts champion will be," Dumbledore said, catching the last paper from the flaming cup, "Cedric Diggory!"

The hall erupted in roars as a handsome man from the Hufflepuff table got up to march to the back room. All of Hogwarts was fairly pleased, especially the Hufflepuffs. Arra smiled at their cheerful mood. The Hufflepuff kids hardly got any recognition at all, so Arra couldn't help but be happy for them in their time of glory. Ron, however, was quite disgruntled that a Gryffindor hadn't won.

"Excellent!" Dumbledore cheered. "We now have our three champions and are on our way to an exciting tournament! The first task will be--"

Dumbledore suddenly stopped talking and turned to face the Goblet of Fire. It had started to spit the red fire again, just like it did when it was returning the chosen champions. The hall fell silent as one more paper was flung out from the fire. Dumbledore snatched it out of the air to stare at it intently. The tension in the air rose even higher when Dumbledore's eyes widened just a bit when he continued to study the tiny paper.

"Harry Potter."

Arra jerked her head in the direction of Harry, who was still staring at Dumbledore. She tapped him on the shoulder and he turned to look at her. She gave him a look as if to say, "What's going on?". He shrugged and shook his head slowly and turned to look back at Dumbledore.

"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore said louder this time. Every eye in the hall turned to look at Harry. Hermione nudged him slightly to get him to stand up. He turned to face them with an apprehensive look before slowly getting up, stumbling over his robes a bit, and going up to Dumbledore, who motioned him through the door.

Even after the door slammed, the hall was completely silent, some people staring after Harry, and some looking to Dumbledore for an explanation. The headmaster turned towards the audience and slowly said, "That will be all for tonight. Please go to your dormitories." And he motioned for the teachers to follow him through the back door.

"What just happened?" Ron asked loudly as he, Arra and Hermione were exiting the hall.

Hermione shook her head, "I really don't know. It seems as if Harry is a 'fourth champion' or something."

"But how did he even get entered?" Arra asked.

"And why didn't he tell us about it?" Ron asked rudely.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Honestly, I don't think he was expecting that. Did you see his face? He was obviously surprised."

As the bickering continued, Arra noticed Draco standing a little off to her left, staring at her. "I'll catch up with the two of you later." Arra said to the arguing friends as she went to join the Slytherin boy.

"Hey." She said walking up to him.

"Did you still want to go to the lake?" He asked.

She frowned, "Why wouldn't I?"

"Because of all that." He said, waving a hand towards the open Great Hall, where the Goblet of Fire was still sitting and Arra knew he was referring to the incident with Harry.

She shook her head. "I don't know what happened there. I really don't."

He shrugged, "Leave it to Potter to steal all the glory."

Arra rolled her eyes and headed towards a secret passageway that would lead them out of the castle past curfew.

"So what happened to you at the beginning of the year?" He asked, as they walked along the shore of the lake, their shoes abandoned a few hundred feet away. The moon was directly above the lake, creating a picture perfect view. "I mean, I know about the whole trial thing, but is that why you were late?"

She nodded. "Yes, I had to stay there until the very end, and so Dumbledore figured out how to help me miss those first few months."

"Oh, I see."

She laughed quietly, "You missed me, didn't you."

He gave her a look, "Quite full of ourself, aren't we, Arra?"

"You might as well admit it," She shrugged, "I know you can't get enough of me."

He smirked, "Well what guy wouldn't want to be with you?"

Her mood fell and she stared at the ground. "You'd be surprised."

He stopped walking and grabbed her arm, turning her around to face him. "Are you talking about Potter?"

Without answering, she stared wordlessly out over the lake, thereby giving Draco his answer.

He scowled, "What did he do?"

"Is it really that obvious?" She asked.

"That you two had some sort of thing going on last year? Yes." He nodded.

Arra nodded, "Oh. Well over the summer, I told him that I wanted something more, and he said he did too. But then," she paused to look at Draco's face. His jaw was clenched, and cold eyes were filled with anger towards Harry's behavior to Arra. "when the trial happened, I guess he _moved on._" She said the last words with malice in her voice. "He likes Cho Chang from Ravenclaw now. Not me." She sniffed at the last of her speech and turned away from Draco.

"That little piece of dragon dung!" Draco snarled. "I swear, I'll kill him for hurting you."

Arra shook her head, "Don't be mad. It's really not going to help."

He stopped and stared at the sad girl in front of him. He outstretched his arms and pulled her close to him, holding her in his embrace. Arra rested her head on his chest and continued to breathe deeply. They stayed like that for sometime, until Arra finally let out a yawn.

Draco pulled away, "Are you tired?" Arra nodded. "Well then we better get back to the castle."

They walked to the castle in silence and went back through the secret passageway. "Thank you." Arra said when they were about to part ways.

He frowned, "For what?"

She smiled, "For tonight. For being my friend. It feels like old times between us, again, doesn't it?"

He smiled, "Yes, it does. Good night, Arra."

"Night." She said as she walked, elated, back to the Gryffindor common room, her worries forgotten. For the time being.

"Getting in a bit late, aren't we?" The fat lady asked when Arra approached.

"That's none of your business." She smirked as the told the password and scrambled through the portrait hole.

As soon as she entered, her eyes were drawn to the only other person in the completely empty room. "Harry? What are you doing down here?" She asked him, as she could tell he was upset about something by the way he was sitting and staring deep into the fire.

"Where were you at? I thought you had gone to bed long ago." He asked her.

"I, uh, went for a walk." She told him. "Are you okay?"

He looked back at the fire, "Yeah, I'm fine."

She rolled her eyes and walked over to him and plopped down on the couch. "Harry, you're my best friend. I can tell when something is wrong with you."

He looked at her, sighed, sank back into the couch and laid his head back.

"Are you upset about what happened at dinner? About being chosen? I thought you would have been happy. I mean, nobody under 17 was supposed to even enter, but you were chosen and--"

"I didn't put my name into the cup." He said sternly.

Arra frowned. "What?"

"I don't know who did it, and I don't know why, but I did _not _enter my own name. I don't know why I was chosen, nor did I want to be. And now everyone thinks that I've cheated and even Ron is angry at me and doesn't believe me. But I'm telling the truth--I don't know who put my name into the Goblet of Fire, Arra." He locked eyes with her, and Arra felt her insides melt. Her anger at him seemed to disintegrate into nothing almost immediately--she couldn't be mad at him when he was so small and sad and vulnerable. Even if she was in love with him and furious at his lack of feelings towards her, he was still her best friend, and he needed her.

She sighed, "I believe you."

He blinked in surprise, "You do?"

She took his hand in hers and squeezed it. "Yes. You're my best friend, Harry. I would probably believe you if you told me that you were part Hippogriff. I just trust you that much. And I'll try to help you figure out who did this to you. You won't be alone." She gave him an encouraging smile and tried to keep from completely breaking down in front of him.

She smiled brightly, pulling her into a hug. "Thanks, Arra. I think I'll go to bed now." He got up and headed up the boys staircase. She waited until she heard the door slam before sliding down onto the couch, rolling up into a ball, and letting out the tears that had been building up inside her.

**Well, I hope you all enjoyed it, and I apologize again for the delay. In honor of the Christmas holiday, you will receive hot cocoa after reviewing today!**

**MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!**


	23. Reconciliation

**Hello everyone! Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! I hope you all had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year! By the way, I'm really in need of a new book, as I just finished my last one (The Hunger Games. Which is totally amazing! You should check it out) and I really need a new one. Any suggestions? It would be greatly appreciated! And now, without further delay, here is the new chapter!**

News about Harry being chosen and being able to compete spread quickly around the castle and the rest of the wizarding world. However, he wasn't too happy about it. Nobody except Hermione and Arra believed him--not even Ron. Ron was convinced Harry had entered himself and was upset that Harry hadn't included him in the process. But at least the rest of the Gryffindors were still pleased about one of their own being chosen, so they weren't very put out about Harry "cheating".

Arra was still furious at Harry, but had tried her best to put aside her feelings for him in his time of need. Being with Draco made her feel better, as the two had been spending quite a bit of time together, as they were right now.

"Do you really have to wear that?" Arra asked Draco as they sat under a tree in the courtyard.

"What, this?" He asked innocently, gesturing to the POTTER STINKS pin that was stuck to the front of his robes. "Of course I do. He cheated. Stole all of Cedric's glory."

Arra rolled her eyes. She had given up trying to convince Draco of the truth after a few tries.

"I don't know why you of all people are supporting him anyways, Arra." He pointed out. "I thought you were mad at him."

She sighed, "I am. But…I…He needs me." She tried to explain her difficult situation.

He sneered, "If I were you, I would have dumped him as a friend. Even if he does, "need you". You shouldn't have to babysit little Potter just because no one likes him anymore."

"Well that's because you're a heartless ferret." She said with a smarmy smile, referring to a recent incident in which Malfoy was turned into a ferret by their new professor, Mad-Eye Moody.

"Shut up." He muttered.

She laughed at him and playfully swatted his arm, to which he grabbed her hand sneakily and held it in his. She stared at the intertwined fingers and felt the blood rush up to her face. Arra turned her head in order to hide her red face and the smile. She hadn't had this feeling since she and Harry had that moment last year in the hallway outside of Dumbledore's office. Harry. She immediately tensed up a little at the thought of him, tried to play it off, but Draco noticed.

"Arra, I--"

She cut him off, "You know what? I actually have to get going. I'm supposed to be helping Harry with preparing for the first task. It's just in two weeks time, so we really have a lot of work to do." She explained quickly, getting up from their spot under the tree and sliding her hand out of his.

He scowled, "Fine. When will I see you again?"

"I don't know. But I really do have to get going, I'll see you later, ok?" She hurried off without waiting for a reply. Turning a corner into an empty corridor, she let out a frustrated cry. Every time she tried to move on from Harry and try something with Draco, she seemed to not be able to. How could she possibly ever get over him if she couldn't even stop thinking about him? Which incidentally, she now had to do. She hadn't lied to Draco about going to help Harry. She knew that he and Hermione were meeting in the library to figure out how to tackle Harry's task of a dragon (they had found out from Hagrid, but were to keep their knowledge secret) , and they had invited her to come as well, which she was now going to accept.

She turned around the corner, staring at the ground trying to gather her thoughts, when she walked straight into a solid object, knocking her a few feet back. "Oh, jeez, I'm sorry," She said quickly, looking up into the face of the person she had hit. "Oh, hi."

"Hi, Arra." Ron Weasley said in an uneasy voice.

She bit her lip, "How are you?"

He frowned with a confused face, "Fine. Why would anything be wrong?"

"Well, I haven't really seen you lately. I take it you and Harry are still fighting then?" She asked tentatively.

Ron made a face, "Yes. Is that where you're going in such a hurry? To see him?"

She grimaced. "Yeah. I was going to meet up with him and Hermione in the library to practice for the first task."

He raised his eyebrows quickly, "Oh, well then I wouldn't want to keep you waiting. Hope you have fun." He said in a voice that sounded like he hoped they didn't have any fun at all.

He turned around to leave with a frown, not even caring about how much pressure Harry was under, or how their fighting was tearing Hermione apart, or how the crack in Arra's heart seemed to break open a little bit more everyday. And that made her mad.

"Why do you do that?" She asked in a stern voice.

He turned around with a confused face, "What?"

"Why do you have to be such a downright git all the time? Don't you see that your immature selfishness is tearing us all apart?!" She yelled.

"_My _selfishness?" He asked, gesturing to himself. "Harry is the jealous one here, Arra."

She stepped towards him, "What are you talking about?"

His nostrils flared as he stepped towards Arra as well, "He obviously doesn't want me to be a part of this! If he did, he would have told us all how to enter the competition as well!"

Arra let out an exasperated growl, "Ugh! You are so _stupid_!" She said, hitting him in the shoulder, "Harry never entered his name!"

"Oh, and I'm supposed to just believe that?" Ron said with malice in his voice.

Arra's eyes widened, "Yes! You are!"

"Why?!" He roared.

"Because he's your best friend!!!" She yelled, standing on her tiptoes so she was right in Ron's face, holding his furious grin with a matching one of her own.

"Is that why you're still hanging around him then? Because you're best friends?" He asked quietly, not moving from his position.

Arra blinked, "Of course. W-why else would I still be talking to him?" She stuttered.

He raised his eyebrows, "It seems to me as if now would be the perfect opportunity for a smart girl such as yourself to sweep in on the vulnerable Harry and be his shoulder to cry on. Or do you no longer have _those_ kind of feelings for Harry?" He asked, already knowing the truthful answer.

She scowled, "No matter how I feel about Harry, or he feels about me, I will always be there for him when he needs me, one hundred percent."

Ron stepped back from her, "You know, you really are a very talented liar, Arra. No wonder the sorting hat originally put you in Slytherin." And he walked away with a satisfied grin.

"Cheap shot." She muttered as he turned the corner. She turned on her heel and headed towards the library. "And I wasn't lying." She mumbled to herself. Of course she would always be there for Harry even if her love for him was unrequited. She stopped walking. _Will I though? _She thought to herself and continued her steps. _What if he and Cho end up going out and get married? Will I still be able to be his friend without letting my feelings get in the way? Will I always just be introduced as 'Arra, the friend'? What if I end up spending my life pining away for Harry in the back of a church where he promises himself to someone else for the rest of his life? I used to think it would be simple, that I would rather have Harry as a friend than not at all, but what Ron said…_

Subconsciously, her feet had led her to the library, where Harry was waiting for her. She stood outside, looking in, knowing what would happen if she entered. If she continued to let Harry lean on her in his time of need and push her own feelings back, it would just keep breaking her down until nothing was left. She would be regarded as nothing but a friend, forever.

"No." She said with a stern face to no one in particular. "No more." She turned on her heel and left the library behind her with her head held high.

***

For the next two weeks, Arra felt much better than she had in a very long time. It was as if a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and she could now walk with her usual peppy step without having it push her back down. She had pretty much avoided Harry at all costs, except for a glance or gesture once and a while. And even those were never sincere as they once were. She felt like she was no longer stuck in that weird "friend zone", and she could move on to the bashing and picture burning stage of moving on from Harry. Most of this she had been doing with Draco.

At her request, Draco dropped the suggestive remarks and gestures, as she just wasn't ready to put herself through anything like that yet. However, they had been spending a lot of time together, just as friends, which Arra enjoyed, as Draco happened to be the best Potter-basher in all of Hogwarts.

Arra woke on November 24th with a smile, just as she had everyday for the past two weeks. Her smile faltered though when she remembered that today was the first task. She had never helped Harry prep for the competition, and she hoped he would be ready. Even if she had ended their relationship, she still didn't want him to be hurt or dead. Draco did, however, as he had acted out several comical and gruesome possibilities of what could happen to Harry during the competition, all of which entertained Arra.

"Wake up, Hermione." Arra said, tossing a pillow on her best friends sleeping body.

"You're up early, Arra. I take it you're new plan is working effectively?" Hermione asked sleepily. Arra had explained her rationale of avoiding Harry soon after deciding herself.

Arra nodded with a smile, sitting down at the vanity to apply her makeup.

Hermione smiled and got up out of bed, walking over to Arra and leaning down to look at her in the mirror. "Well, I'm happy if you're happy. It's good to have you back to your normal self. I was beginning to miss my best friend." She said, hugging Arra.

"Thanks, Hermione." Arra said. "We should be going soon, we want to get a good seat for the tournament." Hermione agreed and they were soon on their way.

Approaching the Quidditch pitch, Arra was astounded at it's new look. They had transformed it into an arena fit for a great competition. Off to the side, there was a small tent.

"Oh, let's go see if Harry is in there! We should wish him good luck!" Hermione said, dragging Arra behind her. They approached the white sheet separating them from the champions. "Psst! Psst! Harry are you in there?" Hermione whispered.

"Hermione?" Harry's voice said from the other side. As he poked his head through the opening. Upon seeing him, Hermione pulled him into a hug, causing him to stumble backwards into the tent. Arra, not wanting to look stupid just standing outside the tent, slowly followed silently.

"You remember the spell, right?" Hermione asked worriedly.

Harry sighed, "Yes, Hermione. Don't worry, I'll be fine." He said, more like he was trying to convince himself rather than her. "Oh," He said noticing Arra, as he was probably surprised to see her, "Hey Arra."

She gave a quick insincere smile, "Hey." And started to look around the tent where the other three champions were each absorbed in their own activities, just to avoid his eyes.

Harry frowned in confusion. "Okay…," He turned back to Hermione, "Well, you'd better get going to get a good seat."

Hermione nodded, "Good luck, Harry. Come on, Arra."

Arra started walking towards the exit, "Actually," Harry stopped them, "Can I talk to you for a minute, Arra?" He asked.

Arra raised her eyebrows, glanced at Hermione and said, "Go on ahead, I'll meet up with you in the stands." Hermione nodded and left the tent.

Arra turned to Harry, "What's up?" She asked casually, folding her arms across her chest.

Harry started, "Um, how are you?"

Arra frowned, "Fine. Is that all you wanted?" She asked rudely.

Harry sighed, "What happened to you?"

Arra shook her head, "What are you talking about?"

"You're just…different. We were on the same page, just like normal, and then you just started being rude to me and hardly even talking to me. You changed and I don't know why."

Arra let out a single laugh, "I changed?"

Harry knitted his brow, "Yes. You ignore me and spend all of your time with Malfoy. It's like you're trying to ruin our relationship!"

Arra's jaw dropped and eyes widened. "Wait, let me get this straight." She said, walking closer to him. "_You _think that _I _am the one who ruined this?" She gestured between them. "Wow, you are so thickheaded."

"What did I do?" Harry asked. "I've been completely nice to you all this time. I've done nothing wrong."

Arra leaned up and got right in his face, "Think about it. I'm sure you could come up with a few reasons if you try _really _hard." She turned on her heel and went to the tent exit and turned back. "Good luck." She said, her words having two meanings.

She left the tent in a huff, shaking her head as if trying to get her thoughts of Harry to fall out. She found Ron and Hermione sitting up in the crowd, waiting intently for the competition to start. She approached and took a seat next to Ron with Hermione on his other side. She shot Arra a questioning glance, to which Arra shook her head. Hermione gave her a sympathetic smile and turned her attention back to the arena, where Cedric Diggory was emerging from the tent to face his dragon.

Arra tried to watch with interest, but her mind was preoccupied. She sighed.

"So what did Harry want?" Ron asked quietly to Arra, only loud enough for her to hear.

Arra glanced at him, "What does it matter to you?"

He stayed quiet for a while before finally saying, "I think you made the right choice."

She frowned, "What?"

"About the whole not talking to Harry thing." He said. "Hermione told me." He added when he saw her confused face.

She nodded. "Oh. I guess I have you to thank for that."

He smirked, "You're welcome. But did you really have to choose Malfoy for your next victim? I mean, of all the blokes in Hogwarts who would fight a thousand dragons just to go on a date with you, you picked _Malfoy._"

Arra stifled a laugh. "Like you said, I was originally in Slytherin. We are quite sneaky and unpredictable."

Ron rolled his eyes, "Well I just think you could do a hell of a lot better."

"I had better." Arra said. "But he changed his mind about me." She said with a twinge of sadness in her voice.

"Harry is an idiot."

"You're only saying that because you're still mad at him." Arra pointed out.

"That could be part of it, but he really is an idiot for letting you go."

She smiled, "Thanks."

Just as she said it, the crowd erupted in cheers as Cedric reached his Golden Egg and finished the task. The rest of the competition Arra watched with mild interest until Harry emerged from the tent nervously. She watched as he gingerly tried to get closer to the egg until the furious Hungarian Horntail slammed it's tail down in Harry's path. Arra cringed and realized that she had no idea what Harry was going to do. She had never asked or bothered to help, and was now regretting her decision. Harry dodged the Dragon a few more times before raising his wand and shouting a spell which Arra didn't hear. She waited for something to happen to the dragon as a cause of his spell, but nothing happened. Arra clutched the bottom of her scarf and began to pull it apart in nervousness until she heard something behind her. It was a _whooshing_ sound, as if something were flying in the air, and turned around just in time to see Harry's Firebolt broomstick come sailing into the arena, straight to Harry.

"Yes!" Arra shouted, ecstatic that Harry did have a plan after all. He jumped on the broom and began to fly around, confusing the dragon and dodging its attacks with ease before finally swooping down and grabbing the egg.

"Yeah! Go Harry!" The crowd, along with Arra, went wild.

"Party in the Gryffindor common room!" Dean Thomas shouted as the Gryffindors all went crazy with excitement once again.

***

Music was blaring, everyone was dancing, and Harry was the center of attention at the party later on. Arra stared at him with a smile until Ron came up to her. "So much for ignoring him." He said.

"It's kind of hard to with all of this going on." She said, grinning. "I'm glad you two made up though." Ron and Harry had reconciled at the beginning of the party.

Ron shrugged, "What can I say? He is my best mate."

Arra rolled her eyes, "Shut up."

Harry then walked up to them. "What are you two doing over here? Why aren't you enjoying the party?" He asked.

Ron answered for them both, "Just needed some air, but I think I'll go find Hermione now." And he left.

Harry and Arra were left awkwardly staring at each other. "Congratulations." Arra finally said, "That was definitely impressive, really good." She said sincerely.

Harry nodded, "Thanks." He looked back at the ground before grabbing her hand suddenly. "Come on." And pulling her out of the common room and into an empty classroom.

After shutting the door, he let go of her hand and paced across the room, so that there was a good 10 feet separating them. They stared at each other for a long time, staying silent until Harry finally spoke up. "I'm sorry."

Arra blinked, she wasn't expecting an apology. "For what?"

Harry took a step closer to her. "Everything. The letters over the summer, ignoring you, falling for someone else." He said the last bit very quietly. "I never meant to hurt you. You know I would never hurt you, but, it just sort of…happened."

Arra took a deep breath, trying to keep her voice calm and not let her breaking heart show, "Ok."

Harry took another step. "Ok? As in, we're ok? We can go back to normal?"

Arra shook her head, "You know I can't do that."

"Can you try?" He asked hopefully.

"No. How can you expect me to just go back to the way we used to be? I can't just sit back and be your best friend while you're over there snogging that Ravenclaw bitch!" She was getting angry now.

Harry tried to stay calm. "One, I've never snogged Cho. I've hardly even talked to her. Two, who says I even like her? Who says I even like anyone? Honestly Arra, I really don't even have time to think about relationships right now with this tournament and everything. With Cho, with you, with anyone. Three, I need you. I know it sounds selfish and insensitive, but I do. I need you." During his speech, he had closed the gap between them and placed his hands on her upper arms, holding her in place so that he could look at her. "Please." He said, pulling her to him and wrapping his strong arms around her.

Arra closed her eyes, resting her head against his chest. Slowly, she raised her arms from their place at her sides and snaked them around Harry's body, squeezing herself to him, never wanting to let go. She opened her eyes to let a single tear roll down her cheek. She inhaled a shaky breath, and Harry must have sensed that she was on the brink of crying, as he pulled her even closer and ran his hand up and down her back, speaking soothing words to her.

Without moving from their position, Arra dared to speak in a calm voice, "I don't know if I can do that Harry."

He pulled his head back to look at her, but still held on to her closely. "Just be my friend again. No strings attached. To Cho, or you or anyone. I really don't have time for anything besides a friend right now anyways. And who knows what will happen with us if we just go back to normal. Whenever I've ever imagined a future with anyone, it's always with you. But I can't promise you anything right now besides friendship. I won't hurt you again. I promise."

Arra looked down at the ground, she could feel her insides melting at his words, wanting to keep holding him. But a tiny voice in the back of her head was telling her that this was not a good idea. However, when she looked back up into his green eyes, everything else going on in her head immediately shut up.

Slowly, she nodded. "Ok."

Harry's face split into a grin, "Thank you." He said, pulling her back into another hug. But even though Harry was ecstatic, Arra couldn't help but let another tear fall from her eye onto his shirt. And she didn't even care if it stained.

**Hope you all enjoyed it! And be sure to review! And tell me any good books you know! :) Peace out, kids! **


	24. Yuletide Cheer

**Hello children! I'm back! Thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter! It gave me some good ideas as to what I want to happen. And, on that note, here is the new chapter! ENJOY!**

Apparently all the gang of Harry Potter needed to reconcile was a life threatening situation involving a dragon. Typical, huh?

Since Harry had fabulously defeated his dragon, the four friends had all made up and Harry now had the entirety of the Gryffindor house as his fan club, along with some students from other houses too.

However, they now had a new challenge facing them--the Yule Ball. Back when the Triwizard Tournament was held annually, it also came with the Yule ball which was held on Christmas night for the champions and other students of the school. And now that it was back, Hogwarts was buzzing. Students in fourth year and above were permitted to attend, but students third and below could go if asked by an older student. Almost everyone had signed up to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, including Harry, Arra, Ron and Hermione.

"Who are you thinking of asking?" Hermione asked Arra as they sat in the courtyard, watching people walk and interact, secretly scouting for boys.

Arra rolled her eyes, "Hermione, we are girls. We're not supposed to ask boys to anything. It makes them feel like wimpy gits."

Hermione frowned, "Well that's stupid. What if no one asks me?"

Arra patted her shoulder, "Relax. You're going to get a fabulous date, I know it. Those two, however," Arra pointed at Ron and Harry, who were standing at the other end of the courtyard, staring nervously at a pack of Beauxbatons girls who were far out of their league, "I'm not so sure about."

Hermione nodded in agreement. "Well what about you? Who do you think will ask you?"

"Well Seamus, Dean, and Marcus Belby from Ravenclaw already asked me, but I said no." Arra said, turning to look at Hermione, who was staring at her open-mouthed. "What?!" Arra asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Jeez, Arra. Only _you_ would turn down three dates to the ball without a second thought."

Arra sighed, "I'm not trying to be shallow, I'm just…waiting for the right guy to ask me."

Hermione smirked, "You mean Harry?"

Arra wrinkled her nose, "No…Maybe…I don't know. I mean, we agreed that we would keep our relationship purely platonic, but lately we've been spending so much time together and it feels like we're back in third year, both secretly liking each other but too afraid to tell the other."

"Well then just ask him. Harry already knows that you're assertive so I don't think he'll feel like a 'wimpy git' if a girl asks him. Especially you. Any guy would be stupid to turn you down." Hermione said.

Arra nodded, "Good point. I am pretty awesome." She joked. "But really, I don't want to ask him and make him think that I want to have something more when he doesn't. Since I was the one hung up on him, if I ask him, it may come across as desperate. So I suppose I'll just wait for him to ask me, and if he doesn't, I'll just accept the next invitation I get." She smiled confidently.

Hermione frowned, "How are you so sure that you'll be asked again?"

Arra nodded. "Just give it a minute." She said, scanning the courtyard with her eyes. "Ah! Here we go. Three…Two…One…"

"What?" Hermione asked, but was cut off by a figure leaning over the back of the bench so that it was directly in Arra's face.

"Arra, you look absolutely ravishing today." It said in a manly gruff voice.

"No, Zabini." Arra said without looking at him.

He frowned, "But I haven't even asked you yet!"

Arra sighed. "Fine. Ask away."

He smirked, "Will you go to the Ball with--"

"No." Arra said, shaking her head sternly.

He gave her a cold look and walked away slowly. Once he left, Arra turned to Hermione, who was staring at her with disbelief. "How the bloody hell do you do that?"

"What? Turn people down? Easy. Zabini is a creep."

Hermione shook her head. "No. I mean get boys to ask you out and stuff. And talk to them normally without accidentally roaming onto the topic of our latest Transfiguration Exam?"

Arra smiled, "You mean flirt?"

Hermione considered the word, "Yes, I suppose that's what I mean."

"Hermione, why would you want to be like me? I'm a horrible person." She laughed.

Hermione shrugged, "Because I don't want to go to the dance alone." She said a little bit sadly, looking down at her feet.

Arra rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up Hermione! Don't you realize that some guys _like _smart girls? All the good guys like smart, beautiful girls like you. Only creeps, idiots and perverts fancy girls like me." She laughed at her own expense. "Don't you ever change yourself to be something you're not. In fact," She craned her neck to look around the courtyard, "It seems as if you have an admirer." She motioned to a boy sitting on a bench opposite them, who was stealing glances at the two girls.

Hermione scoffed, "Oh right, like Viktor Krum is looking at _me_? We both know he's staring at you."

Arra smirked, "Not for long." And she jumped up from the bench, leaving her best friend there alone. Arra turned back to look at Viktor, who was still looking at Hermione. Shyly, Hermione gave him a small wave, which he returned.

Arra decided to walk out of the castle and down to the lake, where she found a good friend sitting under a tree.

"Hey ferret." She said, sliding down next to Draco. "Why the long face?" She asked, noticing his solemn look.

He sighed. "Father. And mother as well. They've been acting strangely lately. Having meetings with people from the old days." He said, both of them knowing the term 'old days' meant the dark days.

Arra nodded. She remembered her times of living with Bellatrix and how old Death Eaters were always coming and going, speaking in hushed whispers. But eventually it died down when they all accepted Volemort's passing.

"Do you have any idea why?" Arra asked.

He shook his head. "No."

"Have they seen Wormtail?" She tried to ask casually, always on the lookout for the man responsible for her father's imprisonment.

Draco looked at her. "No. If they did, I would tell you."

The relationship between Arra and Draco always became a little rocky when they spoke of these subjects. Since Arra used to believe them, but had since changed her ways, she usually kept her opinions to herself when talking to Draco, as his family still believed, and therefore he did too.

She nodded slowly. "Well if you need to talk, I'm here."

He smiled, "Thanks."

They sat in silence for a few more minutes before Draco finally spoke up. "So what do you think about this whole Yule Ball thing?"

Arra shrugged, "Eh. I don't know. I'm not even sure if I'll go yet. You?"

"Well Pansy already asked me. Quite desperately I might add. There were poems." He smirked at Pansy's expense.

In mock romanticism, Arra wistfully asked, "Oh, recite one to me!"

He cleared his throat, playing along with Arra's game:

"_Oh Draco, your eyes so gray,_

_I have something I wish to say,_

_The Yule ball comes, ever so fast_

_I need a date-- a love to last!_

_Won't you be mine, oh Draco, my Draco!_

_Our love would be true, and not…fake-o_"

Arra laughed so heartily that tears began to form in her eyes, "Oh my God! Did she really say that?!"

Draco nodded, joining her in the laughter, "Yes. The last bit was my favorite." He said nostalgically, thinking of the humorous experience.

"Oh I really hope you said yes." Arra said.

Draco looked at her with shock. "Of course I didn't!"

Arra looked downright disappointed, "Oh come on! I wanted her to have an excuse to right you more poems!" She laughed again, and Draco playfully hit her on the arm. "Maybe even a song! Oh, you could dance to it at your wedding!" Arra said sweetly as the idea popped into her head.

"I hate you so much." Draco said with malice.

Arra shrugged, "That's ok. I don't need you. I've got half the guys in Hogwarts lined up to be with me." She said conceitedly.

He smirked. "So how many hearts have you broken since this Yule ball business started?"

"Four." She said as if it were an achievement. "I'm winning so far."

"Ah, but did any of your potential dates come with a poem?" Draco pointed out.

Arra snapped her fingers, swinging her bent arm down in front of her torso in mock anger and disappointment. "Darn! I suppose Pansy's can count for two then."

"So who asked you?"

Arra counted them off on her fingers, "Seamus, Dean, Marcus and Zabini."

"Potter didn't ask you?" He tried to ask casually.

"No." She said in a warning tone, as if to signal him not to push the subject. Thankfully, he didn't, but Arra couldn't help but notice a satisfied smirk on his face for the rest of their time together.

***

In another part of the castle, Ron and Harry were sitting in the common room, each telling their experiences of the day.

"You shouted at her?" Harry asked incredulously after Ron finished his story of how he had asked Fleur Delacour to the ball. They had each agreed to find dates by the end of the day. So far, they weren't having any luck.

Ron nodded slowly, his embarrassed face in his hands. "I don't know what came over me. I just saw her there, and I thought to myself 'Don't even think about it Ron, don't ask her' and then I just shouted it."

Harry gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry mate. But I'm in the same boat as you--I don't have a date either."

Ron looked up, "You asked Arra then?" He asked a bit hopefully.

"Er, no. Not exactly. I asked Cho." He said nervously.

Ron raised his eyebrows, "Well then it's a good thing she said no. Arra would kill you."

Now it was Harry's turn to bury his face in his hands, "I know. And I didn't mean to ask her, really. It's like what happened with you and Fleur!" He pointed out.

Ron scowled, "Did you shout at her in front of Hogwarts?"

Harry bit his lip, "No. I asked her up at the owlery. But I meant to just say 'Hi Cho.' Instead, I said 'Will you go to the ball with me?'"

The scowl was still on Ron's face, "That was _not _like me and Fleur."

"Yeah, I suppose you're right." Harry tried to hide a smile.

Ron rolled his eyes, "You should just ask Arra. You know she would say yes, and you only have like 10 days left to get a date. And we both know you still like her."

"I know, I know. But I don't want her to take it the wrong way or anything. And I'm still really confused about everything. I do still like her, but I also like Cho. And I really don't think it's fair that she's allowed to be mad at me for it! Last year she did the same thing with me and Malfoy! She's _still _doing it!" He raised his voice a bit for the last bit.

Ron sighed, "Yeah, yeah, yeah, the tales and woes of Harry Potter! But really," he leaned forward in his chair and lowered his voice, "Hermione already told me that Arra has turned down four dates. And Hermione saw Arra with Malfoy earlier down by the lake and asked her later if she was going with him. Arra said no." He smiled mischievously and sat back in his chair again, "It seems to me as if she's waiting for a specific invitation, from a specific Hogwart's Champion." Harry opened his mouth to say something but Ron cut him off, "And no I don't mean Cedric."

Harry considered this, "Really? So what? Does that mean that she like _picked _me over Malfoy or something?"

Ron shrugged, "I don't know. Seems like it. Or wouldn't she have said yes to Malfoy?"

"But we don't know if Malfoy even asked her yet. Hermione just said that she saw them together. They may have just been hanging out. He may be waiting to ask her or something." Harry pointed out.

"Well then you'd better get a move on then and ask her."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I think I will. I mean, maybe she really has chosen me, and we can move past this whole thing."

Ron clapped his hands together, "Right, good, taken care of. Now", he changed the subject, "What are we going to do about my dating predicament?"

Harry raised his eyebrows, "Predicament? That's a rather large word for you to use." He said it like a degrading kindergarten teacher to a child who just learned their ABC's.

Ron glared, "That's how Hermione described it."

"Ah, there you go. Just ask Hermione." Harry said it, sitting back in his chair as if it were the most obvious solution.

"I did."

Harry waited for more, "And…?"

"She said no."

At this, Harry couldn't help himself and he began to laugh.

"Shut up you git!" Ron chucked a pillow at him.

"I'm sorry!" Harry said between laughs, "But why did she turn you down?"

"She said someone already asked her." He said with a shrug.

Harry frowned, "Who?"

Ron sighed, "She wouldn't say. Which obviously means that nobody asked her."

Harry looked confused, but let it slide, as he often did when it came to subjects about Ron and Hermione.

Speaking of potential dates, just at that moment, Arra and Hermione walked into the common room. Upon seeing Arra, Harry jumped up from his seat, "Arra, I was wondering if I could talk to you." He said, walking over to her.

She nodded, "Sure, come on." And she led him over to a corner of the common room, as Ron and Hermione had began arguing over Hermione's 'mystery date' who Arra actually knew was Viktor Krum.

They sat down at a table, "What's up?" Arra asked him.

He attempted to approach the topic sneakily, "So has anyone asked you to the ball yet?"

Arra felt her heart flutter at what she thought he might ask, "Yes, but I turned them down."

Harry made a surprised face, "Why?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. I just didn't really want to go with any of them."

"Oh," He took a deep breath, "Well would you consider going with me?" He asked slowly.

Arra's heart was fluttering so fast now she was sure it was going to fly out of the top of her head any second. But she kept her cool, "Why are you asking me? The Great Harry Potter couldn't get a date?" She asked.

"I didn't ask anyone yet." He lied, but Arra didn't know it. "I just know that I would rather go with you than anyone else." He said truthfully.

A blush flooded Arra's cheeks, and she turned her head slightly to hide it. "I'd rather go with you too."

"Great!" Harry said, jumping up from his seat a little to excitedly, but immediately calmed down when Arra chuckled. "I'll see you later then." He gave her one last genuine smile before heading up the stairs to the boys dormitories.

As soon as she heard the click of the shutting door behind him, Arra leapt from her seat and let out a whoop of elation, pumping her fist in the air, and not caring who gave her a dirty look. Hermione hurried over to join the excitement.

"What?" She asked.

Arra, in response, suddenly pulled Hermione into a ballroom style dance, all the while singing, "Guess who's going to the Yule Ball with Harry Potter?" Hermione laughed with happiness at her best friend's new found date.

"Oh this is so great!" Arra said, when they stopped spinning around, "Now we _both _have dates!"

Hermione nodded, "Yes, everything is happy for all of us!"

Arra frowned, "What about Ron?"

Hermione scowled, "Eh, he doesn't matter."

Arra laughed, "Maybe we should help him find a date." As they looked over at the sulking red head who was sitting on the couch.

Hermione contemplated this, "Yeah…Or we could just sit back and do nothing."

Arra sat back down and put her feet up on a chair, "Yeah, your plan sounds easier. After all," she took a licorice wand from a nearby first year and began to eat it, "I am _extremely _lazy."

**Yay! A happy chapter! :) I'm actually pretty pleased with how this turned out, and I hope you all enjoyed it! Be sure to review and you will recieve tortilla chips with freshly homemade salsa! (I'm eating some right now--It's SO GOOD!!!)**


	25. Yuletide Bliss

**Hello all! I apologize endlessly for the horrible delay, but I got hooked on an amazing book series and just couldn't stop! I read the first 4 books in 3 days! I KNOW I'M SUCH A LOSER! lol. But, I hope you all enjoy this chapter--I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. :)**

**Without further delay, here is _Yuletide Bliss_**

**ENJOY!**

"Happy Christmas!" Arra awoke to a bushy haired girl jumping on her bed on Christmas morning.

"Whasgoinon?" Arra slurred, rubbing her eyes as she said up.

"It's Christmas!" Hermione said.

"You seem awfully excited." Arra said, examining the pile of presents at the foot of her bed. "Could a certain date for the ball have anything to do with that?"

"Shut up and open your presents." Hermione mumbled with a smile.

Arra laughed and began to unwrap the gifts. From Hermione, she got a talking day planner, as Hermione was always on Arra about her careless nature. From Ron, a Chudley Cannons t-shirt. Since Arra's favorite team was the Holyhead Harpies, her and Ron often got each other the other's favorite Quidditch team memorabilia as a joke. Next, she opened her gift from Draco--an emerald necklace lined in silver. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw it, but she quickly put in her jewelry box, as she didn't want Harry or anyone else to think that there was a 'special reason' Draco would have gotten it for her.

After she had finished all the presents on top of the pile, there was one last one in a rather large box on the bottom. Curiously, she took off the top and read the card:

Happy Christmas Arra!

_I really miss you back here at the house. It's quite lonely with just me and Kreacher. But I entertain myself sometimes by making him wear a tutu or something. I'm glad that you and Harry finally made up--I didn't want to have to get mad at him for hurting my little girl and be one of those responsible parent type people. We both know that I'm no good at that. But I don't really think I could have killed Harry anyways--I think Lily and James might not be too happy about their best friend killing their son. But if he ever turns into an idiot again, we can just ask Dumbledore to loan us back that Hungarian Horntail._

_So I hope your Christmas is wonderful and you have a great time at the Ball, which is why your Christmas present is what it is. Back in my school days, we had a formal party for the graduating 7__th__ years and your mother wore this to it. Don't feel obligated to use it if you've already got an outfit together, but I hope you enjoy it either way._

_Happy Christmas, Love!_

_Dad_

Arra laughed at her father's letter and set it on her nightstand. She then walked back over to the box and carefully pulled out it's contents.

"Oh my God," She breathed as she got a good look at it. It was an elegant strapless emerald green dress that ran all the way to the floor. The torso was tight, tying up the back like a corset, but at the waistline, it fanned out like a princess dress, but not too far that it would get in the way.

"Bloody hell! Where did you get that?!" Lavender said when she noticed Arra holding it up, admiring it.

"My dad sent it to me. It used to be my mum's." She explained, and soon Lavender, Hermione and Parvati were all oohing and ahhing at the gorgeous dress.

"Will you wear it tonight?" Parvati asked.

Arra nodded, "Yes. Definitely. I had just a simple black gown I was going to wear, but this is much better." She smiled and the other girls agreed.

"We'd better get down to breakfast, Arra. Ron and Harry will be waiting for us." Arra nodded her head and carefully placed the dress on her bed so it wouldn't be wrinkled. Standing up, a thought occurred to her--she hadn't received a present from Harry. It's not like she was completely obsessed with receiving gifts, but it was a bit odd. Her eyes then fell on her jewelry box, where the necklace Draco had given her was sitting safely. It was then she noticed that the necklace would go perfectly with her dress. If she wore it tonight, Harry wouldn't know that it was from Draco since they never talk to one another. And Draco would know that she appreciated his gift as well. Right?

She shrugged it off and followed Hermione out of the dormitory. Walking down the stairs, she saw people exchanging gifts in the common room and shouting "Happy Christmas!" to everyone in sight. She walked slowly to admire the decorations hung gracefully about the walls, and Hermione walked ahead, beginning a conversation with Ron about who she was attending the ball with.

"Happy Christmas." A voice said from behind Arra, and she turned around to meet a dozen red roses being offered to her.

Taking the roses, she saw their holder. "Happy Christmas to you too, Mr. Potter." She said kindly, sniffing the wonderful roses scent.

He smiled down at her, "Fancy some breakfast?" He asked, holding out his arm like a true gentleman.

She took hold of his arm with her own, "Why, yes, I do." And together they walked down to the Great Hall.

"Thanks." Arra said suddenly as they were walking.

He looked at her. "For what?"

She gestured to the roses, "These. They're beautiful." She grinned, "And for asking me to the ball. I know we're going to have a great time tonight."

Harry beamed, "You're welcome. I'm glad you like them. I really couldn't think of what to get you for a gift, and then I remembered that you said roses were your favorite flower. So I figured that they would be a good start for your present."

Arra stopped walking. "A start?"

Harry nodded with a smile, "You don't get the rest until tonight. Which you're also welcome for, because I'm _positive _we'll have a good time."

Arra took his arm again and resumed walking, "Oh, well now I'm extra excited."

"You should be." He smirked and Arra returned the look flirtatiously.

They ate their breakfast with Ron and Hermione and some other Gryffindors, all the while having a great time. Later, they decided that they would have some fun, and went outside to begin a snowball fight.

"All right!" Ron shouted in order to get everyone's attention, as they had gathered quite a large group of people to play. "Let's separate into two teams, I'll be captain. Who wants to be the other?"

"I will!" Fred said quickly, shouting over George's claim for the high ranking spot. "But I get to pick first."

Ron scowled, "Why do you get to pick first?"

"Because I'm older and better looking." He flashed him a dazzling smile. "George!" He said, picking his first teammate.

"Harry." Ron said, and Harry went to stand by Ron's side.

"Arra." Fred and George said in unison for their next pick.

Arra glared jokingly at Ron and Harry, and punched one of her fists into her other open palm. "Your going down."

"No fair! Arra throws better than half the blokes in Hogwarts!" Ron protested.

Fred and George shrugged together, "Not our problem."

"And besides," Arra said, "You have the 'boy who lived' on your side. That's got to count for something." Ron gave her a scowl. "But then again, he won't be living for very much longer once I'm done with him." Arra smirked at Harry, who returned the look.

Ron rolled his eyes at them, "You two make me sick. All right, I pick Seamus."

"We get Dean."

"Ginny."

It went on like that until…

"I can't believe I'm the last one left!" Hermione said after everyone else had been placed on their teams.

"Oh come on, Hermione! You get to be on _my _team!" Arra said with excitement, as if it were the greatest thing ever.

Hermione trudged over to them, "I thought I'd at least be picked before Colin Creevey." Hermione muttered.

Arra nodded sympathetically, and looked over at Colin on Ron's team. She suspected that he would be too busy looking at Harry to notice when she would send a snowball hurtling to his face.

She was right.

Colin was Arra's first victim as the war began. She quickly dove behind a snow bank to avoid the mass of fire that was coming to her. She formed a few snowballs, sneakily peered around the side in order to look for her next target. Exactly across from her was Harry, hiding behind his own fort, and they had now locked eyes. They both immediately grabbed a snowball and started throwing like mad at each other.

In an act of bravery, she made a dash to a rather large rock, that was much closer to Harry, so she could hit him easier. Harry noticed her daring act, and made more ammo in case she came closer. Arra did the same, and swiftly turned around to attack. But instead found a snowball colliding with her face.

She brushed the snow off her furious face to find Harry in hysterics, almost falling over from all the laughter. She grabbed all the ready-made snowballs at her feet and got up to attack Harry. He stopped laughing long enough to see her running towards him, and he searched frantically for one of his own snowballs--there were none. So he got up and began to run away from the fight.

"Come back here, Potter!" Arra yelled, chasing after him, towards the forest, pelting snowballs the whole way.

"Ouch! Stop it, Arra! I'm sorry I hit your face!" He said between laughs, before finally tripping and falling down into the snow.

Arra took the opportunity to go down next to him and playfully hit him. "I'll teach you to throw things at me!" She laughed.

Suddenly, Harry, who was lying on the ground with Arra kneeling next to him, tackled her into the ground, so he now had the upper hand.

"What was that about teaching me?" Harry said sarcastically, as he pinned her to the ground.

She was shocked at her loss of the fight, "Fine. You win."

Harry beamed, "Good."

Arra looked up at him, and saw that he had sort of a nervous smile. She bit her lip, not wanting to spoil the moment. They stared at each other for what felt like hours, before Harry slowly began to bend his face down towards her. When Arra didn't protest, he continued.

Arra's heart sped up to an alarming pace, and she gracefully closed her eyes. She could feel Harry's face just inches away from hers now. And second now, their lips would meet in an explosion of passion that they had both been waiting for for a long time.

"Arra!"

Her eyes flew open and Harry's head instinctively jerked back as they both heard the voice.

"Arra!" Hermione's voice shouted again, searching for her best friend.

Arra sighed, and Harry helped her to her feet.

"There you are!" Hermione said, finally finding them. "Come on, we'd best start getting ready."

"Yeah, sure." Arra said to her before turning back to Harry. "I'll see you later, I guess." She gave him a mischievous smile and bit her lip before following Hermione back to the castle.

Finally reaching the common room, Arra entered to find Hermione staring at herself in the mirror. Lavender and Parvati had likely snuck out to Hogsmeade to pick up some last minute things. "Hermione?" She said slowly.

"What do I do about my hair?" She asked with an exasperated voice.

"Relax. We have three hours to get ready," she glanced at the clock. "We'll get it looking perfect for Viktor." Arra said in a cute little voice, as if she was a mother, sending her daughter on her very first date.

Hermione smiled, "Stop it! This isn't a real _date._ He just happens to be the only guy who asked me to the ball."

Arra frowned, "I believe you're forgetting a certain redhead who asked you as well."

Hermione waved her off, "He doesn't count. He only asked me because he didn't have any other options."

Arra nodded, "True."

"Who is he going with, again?" Hermione asked.

"Parvati." After _a lot_ of begging from Harry, Arra finally agreed to help find Ron a date. However, it wasn't too hard when she came up to the common room to find Parvati crying over the fact that Cormac McLaggen had turned her down, and Arra offered her Ron. Reluctantly, she agreed.

"I still can't believe you helped him." Hermione said, shuffling through the closet and pulling out her dress.

Arra shrugged, "He was beginning to annoy me with all his sullenness. And I knew that if he didn't have a date, he would just follow Harry and me around all night, and I'd end up being a shared date." She flipped through a copy of _Witch Fashion Weekly _for ideas of what to do with Hermione's hair.

Hermione nodded in agreement before changing the subject, "So out of interest, what does Malfoy think of you going with Harry?"

Arra stopped flipping and looked up at her, "I don't know. Why?"

"Well it's pretty obvious that he's totally bonkers for you. And it's no secret that you have some sort of feelings for him."

"Yeah, but I like Harry more." Arra defended.

"But don't you think he'll be a little upset when he sees you with Harry? I mean, you know Malfoy hates all of us, except you of course, so don't you think he might be jealous or something?"

"He'll just have to deal with it. I'm not his babysitter, and I don't do things just to make him happy. The same goes for Harry."

"Okay, but if I were you, I would be careful about what I say to them. You don't things to get to dramatic or tense between those two guys." Hermione warned.

Arra sighed, dropping the subject, "What do you think about this hairstyle for you?" She pointed to a curly up-do.

She nodded, "Yeah, I like that one. You think you can do it?"

"Please, Hermione," Arra said conceitedly, "I may not be able to make teacups transfigure into pineapples, but I can certainly do this." And she began her masterpiece.

After two hours of fighting and yelling at Hermione's hair, Arra finally was able to make it look almost exactly like the picture. Even with magic, Hermione's hair definitely had a mind of it's own.

"Oh my God, I hope Viktor recognizes me. I look so different!" Hermione said after Arra applied some finishing touches to her makeup.

Arra scoffed, "You make it sound like I turned you into a Russian circus act hiding from the ministry as a hobo or something."

"More like _French_ circus act hiding out from the ministry as a hobo." Hermione smiled and Arra gave her a scowl.

Arra glanced at the clock--7:00. Her already natural curls wouldn't take long at all to fix, and she hardly ever wore very much makeup, so she figured that she had quite a bit of time to relax for a while before 8:00 when the ball began. She walked over to her bed, glancing out the window at the darkening sky, the stars were already out. She flopped onto her bed and sighed happily--today had been complete and utter bliss so far. The roses from Harry, the snowball fight with Harry, the kiss they almost shared; it seemed as if things were finally going right for them. She turned her head to look at the roses he gave her, beaming from happiness.

She was suddenly jolted from her pleasant state by a knock at the window. Confused, she got up and walked over to it, and was certainly shocked to see what it was.

"What the bloody hell are you doing?" She asked, but couldn't help from letting a smile cross her face.

"Square dancing," Harry said sarcastically from his floating position on his Firebolt broomstick outside her window.

"I'm sorry, were we going for a western theme tonight? Should I wear my cowboy boots to the ball tonight?" She matched his tone.

He rolled his eyes, and gracefully swerved his broom around so that the back was facing her window. "Get on."

Arra stared, "What?"

"Get. On." Harry pressed again, giving her a smile.

"Is this the part where you take me into the forest and kill me or something?" She crossed her arms over her chest.

He shrugged, "You'll only know if you get on."

Arra stared at him incredulously. Then, in true Arra style, she threw caution to the wind and clambered on behind Harry. "I'll be back later, Hermione!" She said over her shoulder.

Tightly securing her arms around Harry's middle she said, "You better not knock me off this broom, Potter."

He smirked and Arra felt her face flush, "Then you better hold on tight." And he took off at lightning speed into the starry night sky.

**Hope you all enjoyed it! I know it was kind of short, but I was kind of having trouble thinking of extra filler scenes, which usually just piss me off in stories, lol. So anyways, REVIEW! In return, you shall get a valentine from me and candy! HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! **


	26. Yuletide Surprises

I'**m back!!! And I can't even begin to apologize for how much of a delay there has been! I had to write my senior paper. A whopping 15 pages! But now I'm done and I won't be stressing so much, so I can finally start updating again!**

**So anyways, in this chapter, quite a bit happens, and I hope you all enjoy it!!!**

**I don't own Harry Potter. Darn.**

"Harry," Arra shouted over the deafening wind blowing in her face as they sped on the firebolt. "Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise," Harry said with a slight smirk as he made the broom go faster.

Arra gave him a look, "Okay," She said slowly as a smile crept on to her face. She just realized that Harry and her were _alone, _going somewhere _together, _and that her stomach had suddenly just jumped up into her throat. She tried to swallow to make the lump move, but she couldn't. So she bit her lip in an attempt to not squeal out in excitement.

"We're here." Harry said, lowering the broom to the ground. Arra hadn't even noticed what was going on until he said something. When she did, her smile got even wider.

They were at the edge of the lake, under their favorite tree. But under the tree, there was a blanket and a picnic basket. Arra turned to Harry with a sly smile, "Nice touch, Potter."

He shrugged, "I'm not really one for romanticism," he smiled, "Come on." And he took her hand and pulled her over to the tree to sit down.

Arra took the basket, "So let's see how you did with food selection." She said as she opened the basket to empty the contents. "Hmmmm sandwiches, you know me so well," She said with a smile. "Butterbeer, very nice," She nodded, "And…chocolate." Pure bliss crossed her face, "Marry me, now."

Harry laughed, "Whoa, it's just our first date, Arra. We can't talk about marriage until at least the third." He smiled.

"Oh, will children be the topic of our fourth date, then?" She asked, playing along.

He nodded, "Yes, we'll be naming them after my parents."

She frowned, "You've already decided that, have you? I don't get a say in it at all?"

"You can pick their middle names," He nodded.

"What if I want to name our child…Hydrangea?"

Harry scrunched up his nose, "Ewww. That's why your not allowed to name our kids."

Arra crossed her arms, "I think I should name them. I'll be the one carrying them around for 9 months and then forcing them out of my body through a tiny hole."

"Gross, Arra. I did not need that image in my head!" He said, disgusted.

"And now you're disgusted with the thought of our children's birth!" She accused. "That's it, we're getting a divorce."

"Ouch, I'm being dumped 15 minutes into our first date?" Harry said with mock hurt.

Arra nodded, "I'm afraid so." She gave him a serious look, which he responded to with a smile, forcing her to do the same. She felt a blush rise to her face and she turned her head, running her fingers through her hair to try and hide it.

"Ouch!" Arra yelped when her fingers got stuck in her tangled up, windblown hair. "You're romantic broomride messed up my hair!" She accused Harry and he smiled. "It looks like a rat's nest now. You're lucky I didn't fix it for the ball yet."

"I like your hair like that. But then again, I like your hair all the time."

"It looks crazy right now though!"

"I know. It reflects your personality." He smirked. She slapped his arm. "See? You're insane! And violent too!" He rubbed his recently beaten arm.

She crossed her arms, "You knew I was like this when you asked me out, Potter. No complaining now."

"You still up for that divorce?" He asked hopefully, to which she slapped him again. They sat there for about 30 more minutes before Arra finally checked her watch and realized that the ball would be starting soon. They rode back to the castle and Harry dropped Arra off at her window and he hovered outside.

"Hmm," Arra said, dropping into the room and seeing it empty, "Everyone must have already gone down to the Great Hall." She turned back to Harry and leaned against the window sill. "Thanks for the ride." She said with a smirk.

"Anytime," He beamed.

"I'll meet you down in the Hall." And she shut the window suddenly. She didn't want her and Harry's first kiss to happen here, and she knew she would have kissed him if she kept standing there. She wanted it to happen at the ball. Girly, yes. But hey? We're all entitled to a princess moment every once and a while.

Arra walked over to the mirror and applied a bit of makeup before starting on her windblown hair. After some trouble, she got a brush through all of it, and was able to use a few spells to make it look the way she wanted it to, with it curling at the very ends and running down her back smoothly.

Finally, she put her dress on and looked in the mirror. She had to look down and make sure it was still her. _Damn, I clean up good, _she thought as she spun around in the mirror, watching the dress fan out and the bottom. Finally looking back at herself once more, she realized that something was missing.

She raised an eyebrow when the idea hit her of what could go with this dress. Tentatively, she walked over to her bedside table and opened the jewelry box. Peering inside, she pulled out the emerald necklace that Draco gave her. She put it around her neck and looked in the mirror.

Crap.

It looked amazing. And now she would have to wear it, as it made her outfit go together perfectly. "Harry will never know it's from Draco," She thought out loud to herself. "And if Draco sees me, he'll know I appreciated his present. No harm done, right?"

* * *

"Mr. Potter, the ball must begin now! If Miss Black is not here, then you'll have to dance with someone else for the opening event!" Professor McGonagall hissed, glancing at her watch, which now read 7:59.

"She'll be here." Harry assured her, even though he was beginning to worry himself a little bit as well.

"I've got an idea," Cho piped up from where she was standing with Cedric. "Why don't I dance with Harry and then Shelby can dance with Cedric. Shelby is a good dancer and she and Cedric are friends, so I'm sure they won't mind. Then everyone has a partner," She had looped her arm around Harry's by this time.

"Ummm I don't think that's a very good idea--," Harry started, but was cut off by McGonagall.

"Fine. Just hurry," She said briskly, pushing everyone into line.

* * *

"Colin! Go away!" Arra said, pushing the youngster away as she hurried around the corner, trying to get to the ball on time.

"But I was hoping to get a picture of you and Harry before the ball!" He squeaked.

"Like I said, Harry is already there. And I'm late, but I'm supposed to be there now because Harry and I have to open the ceremony or something. But _you _are making me even more late so GO AWAY!" She was getting really angry at him now.

"Do you think you can maybe sneak me into the ball so I can take some pictures?" He asked hopefully, completely ignoring her previous instructions.

Furious, Arra rounded on him, looking livid and resembling her Aunt Bellatrix quite a bit, making Colin cower. "Colin! If you don't get out of my way _right now_, I'm going to hex you into oblivion and then abandon you in the forbidden forest so the trolls can take you away and teach you some _freaking manners about personal boundaries_!!!!" She yelled at him, and he scurried away.

Righting herself and sighing, she heard a distant chime of the clock, signaling that it was now 8 o'clock, meaning she had missed the first dance with Harry.

"Jeez, Arra. I haven't seen that side of you in quite a while," Came a voice from the corner.

She scoffed, "You referring to my outburst just now? Oh come on, Draco, you've seen me much worse than that."

"Yeah, I have. No wonder that hat put you in Slytherin." Draco said.

She grimaced, "And then I was put in Gryffindor, Draco, don't you remember?"

He came out of the shadow, "Yes, I do. Which I've never understood. We all know that you used to be the best out of all of us, when it came to the dark stuff and being scary and such. Don't you remember the days when everyone was afraid of you?"

She shrugged, "I've left that behind. And sometimes it just…comes out. When I'm angry. But I'm not like that anymore. Ever since my dad came back, I haven't touched that dark stuff. And as long as he's around, I doubt I ever will again."

Her and Draco began walking to the Great Hall. "Sure, Arra." He said with a smile.

She looked up at him, "Excuse me? What are you trying to say?"

He shrugged, "I don't know. I guess I just always have thought that you'd some day go back to the old ways."

Her eyes widened, "You think I have the potential to go back to the Dark Side?" He nodded a little bit. "Why? Why would I go back? What's so good about all that stuff, Draco? What does the Dark Side have that I could possibly want?" She asked, seriously.

And, in response, he looked at her quite seriously, "We have cupcakes," And then his face split into a grin as he laughed.

Arra tried to remain serious, but couldn't, and joined him in the laughing. "You're stupid, you know that?" She asked him with a smile.

"Anything you say, dear." He grinned as they came around the corner, to the entryway of the Great Hall. "By the way, nice necklace."

She blushed, "Thanks, I got it from this really weird guy who keeps stalking me," She said sarcastically.

"That's because he must like you a lot," Draco said in his husky voice, to which Arra almost melted.

Turning away quickly towards the hall, she craned her neck over the people, "Have you seen Harry?" She asked him.

"No, but I'll see you later Arra." And he walked away towards Pansy, who seemed to be seething hatred towards Arra right now for talking to her Draco-boo.

Seeing a familiar red head sticking out above the crowd, Arra made her way over to where Ron was standing. Pushing her way though, she finally reached him, "Hey Ron, do you know where Harry is--"

She cut off when she followed Ron's gaze to the dance floor and her heart sank. Harry was dancing with Cho. "Um, did I miss something?" Arra asked.

Ron shook his head, "McGonagall said Harry needed to do the first dance with or without you and then Cho said okay and stuff blah blah blah…Did you know that Hermione was going to the ball with Viktor Krum?" He asked suddenly.

Arra frowned, "What do you mean Cho said okay? Did Harry ask her to dance with him?" Arra felt her anger rising. She was considering unleashing her 'dark side' on Harry and Cho pretty soon.

Ron sighed, "No, he didn't ask her to dance with him. Look, I don't really know what happened, but I know Harry wouldn't screw things up with you again on purpose so just cut him some slack. Now you answer my question."

Arra's eyes kept following Harry and Cho around the dance floor with hatred, "What question?"

"Did you know Hermione was coming here with Krum?"

Without taking her eyes off them she answered, "Yes."

Ron finally tore his eyes away from a laughing Hermione and admiring Krum, "Arra! Why didn't you tell me?!"

She shrugged, "Sorry, Ron. But you really should have asked her sooner if you're so upset about her being with Krum and all."

"I just think he's not good for her." He explained.

"Oh, and you are?" Arra gave him a smirk.

Ron blinked and stammered out, "No! I don't think about Hermione that way."

Arra gave him a blank stare, "Oh come on, Ron! I'm not stupid."

"Yes, you are." He accused. "You're grades are almost as bad as mine!"

Arra opened her mouth to protest, but then realized that it was true. "That's a result of laziness. Not intelligence. And even though I can't read Ancient Runes, I can definitely tell that _you _have got something for Hermione."

It was then that the song ended and Harry found Arra and came up to her and Arra shooed Ron away to find Parvati, who he had somehow ended up ditching.

"Arra!" Harry said seeing her angry face.

"Yes?" She said stoically.

"I didn't want to dance with Cho. But McGonagall said that I had to and you weren't here yet and then Cho said she would dance with me and before I knew what was happening, I was dancing with her and I'm sorry." He babbled out before Arra could stop him.

Swallowing the furious remarks that were trying to escape from her mouth, she said, "It's okay, Harry. I know you didn't mean to do anything. If you liked her, then you would have asked her to the ball instead of me. So don't worry, I'm not mad." She smiled at him to let him know she was telling the truth.

His face suddenly got a little bit pink, like he was embarrassed and he said slowly, "Yeah, I asked you because I like you. And I don't want to mess this up." He looked straight into her eyes, like he was really trying to make her realize he meant what he was saying.

She frowned a little at his weird reaction but laughed it off, "Yes, I realize that. Come on," she took his hand, "Let's dance."

After a few dances, Arra was having the time of her life with Harry. She glanced around and saw that Hermione looked like she was having a pretty good time with Krum. Ron however, was sitting over at a table with a very disgruntled Parvati. Draco looked…tolerant. Pansy was all over him, and he just looked sort of bored. Arra shrugged, she didn't care what he was doing. She wasn't jealous of that snot nosed Pansy. When the song ended, Arra realized that she was almost panting from dancing so much. "I'm going to get something to drink, okay?" She told Harry and he nodded with a smile. He was also having a good time.

Walking over to the refreshment table, a grin spread across her face as she almost couldn't believe how amazing this night was going. So absorbed in her thoughts, she didn't even notice when she walked straight into someone.

"Oh, sorry. Didn't see you there," She said to the figure as it turned around to face her.

"Oh that's okay, Arra," Cho Chang said in her sweet little voice and Arra felt her blood boil. "I'm glad you're finally here. We missed you in the first dance. Harry ended up having to dance with me, you know."

Arra forced a smile on her face, "Yeah. I know. So what, wasn't Cedric jealous?" Arra didn't try to keep the malice out of her voice.

"Oh, no. He's very understanding. And he agreed that it might be nice for me to dance with Harry since I wasn't able to come to the ball with him."

Arra smile fell off her face and her stomach dropped down to her toes, "What?"

"What?" Cho looked honestly confused. She's so stupid. How the hell did she ever get into Ravenclaw?

Arra spoke slowly to make sure she understood, "What do you mean you weren't able to go to the ball with Harry?"

She frowned, "By the time Harry asked me, I'd already said yes to Cedric."

Arra's throat now felt like it was closing up and she could feel tears start to form in the back of her eyes. "Harry asked you to the ball?" She asked to confirm her fear.

"I just said that, didn't I?" Cho said and Arra had to turn away from her before she punched her in the face. Trying not to start bawling in front of the entire school, she tried to push her sadness down. In it's place came anger. Breathing heavily, she looked up and found Harry talking to a group that included Hermione, Ron and Viktor and other people. Her eyes narrowed as she walked towards him, her frustration rising with every step.

Seeing her approach, Harry turned to greet her, obviously not noticing the furious look she had, "Arra, I was just telling everyone--"

"You asked Cho." She said it like a statement, not a question.

Harry did a double take, "What?"

She raised her voice, "You asked Cho to the ball, Harry. She just told me. But she turned you down, so you had to settle with me as your date."

Harry was starting to panic, she could tell. "Arra, no. That's not what happened, I-I didn't mean to ask Cho! It just happened--"

Arra was on the verge of screaming, her face reddening with anger, "It just _happened_?! How do you just 'accidentally' ask someone to the ball, Harry?! Did you just 'accidentally' ask me too? Did you even want to go with me at all?!"

"Yes! I mean, no! I mean, I meant to ask you Arra! Why else do you think I would have come here with you?"

Her voice became small again, "Because I was just your second choice. I can't believe how stupid I am…" She turned around to leave.

"Arra, wait," Harry grabbed her arm to turn her around again, but when she turned, she brought her hand up and slapped Harry across the face. The smacking sound was so loud that many other party guests had turned to see what was happening. Satisfied with the red mark she had left on Harry's face, Arra ran out of the hall.

She didn't care anymore. She let the tears fall from her eyes and just kept running, not even realizing where she was going. She finally stopped and fell down into the grass where she sat. She had somehow gotten all the way outside to where the lake was. Clutching her chest, she could hardly breathe from the combination of sobbing and extreme running.

She felt like Harry had ripped her heart straight out of chest, stomped on it, froze it, and then took it to the top of the Astronomy Tower, dropped it, and then laughed when it shattered into a million little pieces. Lowering her head into her hands, she cried again.

She didn't know how long she sat there, until she finally felt a hand touch her back, "Arra?" Draco said as he sat down next to her in the grass.

She wiped her eyes and looked up at him, "What do you want?" She didn't say it rudely.

He tightened his arm around her, "I came to see if I need to kill Potter." He said it seriously and Arra couldn't help but let out a little laugh.

She sighed, "I'm so stupid…"

Draco looked at her with determination, "Arra, you are _not _stupid. You're amazing in everyway possible. Potter is the idiot. For not realizing how lucky he is."

She tried to smile, "Thanks. I'm just sick of it. All of this…stuff, between me and Harry. We're on and off again every two minutes. Then we like other people and then we go on a date and then…this." She gestured to herself and her present state.

"He doesn't deserve you. Really, he doesn't. You deserve someone who understands how much of a lucky bloke he is for having you. Someone who won't screw it up in everyway possible."

Arra scoffed, "And where the hell am I going to find a guy like that?"

Draco came closer to her face and whispered, "Right here." Before Arra could say anything, his lips came crashing down on hers, making her forget about Harry entirely.

**AHHHHH!!!! I know right?!!?!?! And just so you all know, in this story ARRA AND DRACO ARE NOT RELATED!!! I've said it before in my author's notes, but some people just don't read them. Read them, people! Please, because I sometimes put important stuff in there.**

**Baha, I couldn't resist the cupcake remark either. I don't care if it was lame, lol.**

**So what do you all think about Draco's suspicion about Arra? That she might someday go back to being a true Slytherin? Hmmmmmm….interesting.**

**Hope you all enjoyed it! After reviewing, I have chocolates and mango juice (which, by the way, is delicious).**


	27. The Unexpected

**Hello everyone...I'm sure you all hate me by now for the extreme lack of updates lately. Buuuuuuuut...I'm back! :) So please don't kill me. **

_Draco came closer to her face and whispered, "Right here." Before Arra could say anything, his lips came crashing down on hers._

Arra was frozen. She stood completely still as Draco continued to kiss her and wrap his arms around her. Her mind had gone completely blank, until she realized how stupid she must look, standing there like an idiot. Slowly, she let her eyes close and brought her arms up to snake them around Draco's neck.

He obviously noted her willingness and wrapped his arms around her tighter and entangled one of his hands in her hair. It felt wonderful. Arra was ready to let herself give up on everything and just stay this way forever. She was going to forget about her problems, her troubles, everything. Even that no good, rotten, Harry Potter.

_HARRY! _Arra thought suddenly as her eyes flew open and she pushed herself away from Draco in a flash, "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" She yelled at him.

Draco stared back at her in disbelief, "I'm doing exactly what you wanted me to do."

Arra felt her temper rising, "What? I never asked you to do _that_!"

Draco scowled and took a step towards her, "Not directly. But you know you wanted to kiss me as much as I wanted to kiss you."

Arra glared up at him, unable to do anything but concentrate on not hexing Draco into oblivion.

"You cant deny that there is something going on between us," He said.

Arra raised her eyebrows, "Yes I can-watch: There. Is. Nothing. Going. On. Between. Me. And. _You_!" On the last word she pushed him backwards and away from her.

He stumbled, but stayed standing, "Is this about Potter?"

Arra kept her stone face, not showing any emotion, "No. This is about you."

He sneered, "Oh really? Sure it is, Arra."

"It is. Just accept that I don't feel that way about you anymore." She crossed her arms defiantly.

Draco raised an eyebrow, "Anymore?"

Arra's eyes widened and she dropped her arms to her side. She hadn't meant to say that. She gaped, "Well…I may-or may not, have had feelings for you, at some point or another…but I don't anymore!" She gave a defiant nod at the end and turned around to walk away.

However, she felt a hand grab her arm and spin her around quickly before she felt Draco's lips on hers again. This time it was different though. The kiss wasn't as hungry and passionate as before, now it was soft and loving. Arra honestly could feel her heart melting as Draco cupped her face in his hands. Finally, he pulled away and swept her bangs off of her forehead.

"What about now?" He whispered.

Arra stared up at him, lost for words, her lips still tingling where he had kissed her, "Damn you Malfoy," And she pulled him in for another kiss.

"Bloody hell that Arra slaps hard," Ron said, amused, as he and Harry sat in the common room after the ball had ended. Harry was determined to wait until Arra got back so he could talk to her. Hermione informed them that she was not in the girl's common room.

Harry glared at him, "I know," the red mark was finally beginning to fade from his cheek. "I can't believe this happened, again," Harry put his face in his hands.

Hermione patted him softly on the back, "Harry, you know Arra has the temper of a Slytherin. She gets fired up really easily and I'm sure she just left so she could cool off before coming to see you again." Ron nodded in agreement.

Harry sat back and slumped against the couch, "I hope you're right."

"If you don't leave soon, you're going to get in trouble," Arra said matter of factly as she and Draco stood outside the Gryffindor common room.

"Ew, Arra, you sound like Granger," He said with a disgusted face.

Arra smiled, but tried to keep a straight face as she scolded him for the insult, "Draco, Hermione is my best friend, so lay off."

He put his hands up in defense, "Anything to keep the queen happy," he gestured to Arra.

She smirked, "That's right, I am the queen," She poked him in the chest, "And don't you forget it."

He grabbed her hand off of his chest and then took the other one in his other hand and pulled her into another kiss. When they broke he asked, "What are you going to tell Potter?"

Arra bit her lip, "I don't know. But I don't really care. If he wants to be with Cho then I don't want to stand in the way anymore. Same thing for me and you,"

"Good," Draco smirked again and kissed her once more.

Arra let herself fall into the kiss, but pushed him away when she heard a clock chime in the distant, "Now go away," She said with a smile as she turned to the Fat Lady's portrait,

"Awfully demanding, aren't we?" He said behind her.

She turned around and gave him the most obvious look, "_Queen_", She said with a smirk and then gave the password to the Fat Lady.

Clambering through the passageway, she could hear voices on the other side, and she recognized them immediately. Taking a deep breath, she emerged into the common room and into sight.

"Arra!" Harry said, jumping up at the sight of her. "I'm sorry, I'm so so so so so sorry! I really didn't mean to ask Cho and I did want to go with you and-"

He was silenced by Arra's hand covering his mouth, "It's okay, Harry."

Harry frowned in confusion, "It is?"

Arra nodded slowly, "Yeah, I'm not mad. Friends?" She asked, holding out her hand.

A confused Harry, who was expecting the shouting match of the century from this girl, jumped at the opportunity to bypass it, "Friends," He grabbed her hand and shook it with the biggest grin plastered to his face.

Arra smiled back, "Well, I'm off to bed. I'll see you all in the morning," And with that, she left. Not long before Arra entered the dormitory, she heard familiar footsteps behind her. "So, did you have fun at the ball, Hermione?" She asked nonchalantly.

"Yes," Hermione sat on Arra's bed next to her and folded her arms across her chest, "But what was _that_?" She gestured back to the common room.

"What? That was me, forgiving Harry for whatever happened," Arra explained.

"I got that part. But _why_?"

Arra shrugged, "I just didn't see the point in staying mad at him. If he wants to be with Cho, he can. And I can be with whomever I want also."

Hermione frowned, "Who else do you want to be with, Arra?"

Arra blinked, "Well…no one in particular, but I'm just saying that if the opportunity arose, I don't want to be held back by Harry."

Hermione's eyes narrowed, "You kissed Malfoy, didn't you?"

Arra stared at her in amazement, "Hermione, are you psychic?"

But instead of answering, she smacked Arra on the arm, causing the auburn haired girl to yelp. "What were you thinking, Arra?"

Arra rubbed her arm, "I was thinking that you wouldn't abuse me like that!"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Seriously, Arra. Why did you kiss him?"

Arra shrugged, "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"You're impulsiveness is going to be the death of you one day."

"You're lack of impulsiveness is going to be the very boring demise of you one day as well," Arra shot back.

"At least I don't run around snogging whoever I may please whenever I want like some kind of…" Hermione drifted off.

"Like a what? A slut, Hermione? Is that what you think I am?" Arra asked, her voice filled with venom.

Hermione stared at her seriously, "You know I don't think of you like that. I just worry about you sometimes," She took her best friend's hand in hers, "What is Harry going to think? Ron? Sirius?"

Arra took a deep breath, "I don't know. All I know is that Draco makes me happy. And I'm tired of being sad."

Hermione absorbed the information and nodded slowly, "Okay then," she patted Arra's hand, "Just be careful, please?"

Arra smiled, "Yeah, I will."

Hermione returned the smile and got up and went back to her bed.

Arra pulled the curtains around her bed and flopped onto her back, her mind racing with thoughts. _What the bloody hell am I doing? _She thought as she drifted into sleep.

**Fairly short, but that's all that really needed to be in this chapter. I didn't want to get started on a whole new topic until the next chapter. But I hope you all enjoyed it! :) Review and I will throw a parade in your honor!**


	28. Stop Doing That

**I'm not even going to BEGIN to apology for the massive delay. I only hope that my dedicated readers have not abandoned me.**

Arra awoke from the strangest dream the next morning. In the dream, she had left Harry, the boy of her dreams, standing in the Great Hall alone as she went off to kiss Draco Malfoy.

Slowly, she sat up in bed and rubbed her tired eyes before taking in her surroundings.

"_Oh shit,_" She breathed. Arra was still in her emerald green ball gown, her hand immediately went to her neck…where the necklace from Draco still hung. The events from the past night came flooding back to her and she began to panic a bit. Wildly, she tore open the curtains, and discovered that everyone in the Dormitory had already gone down to breakfast.

Quickly, she got up out of bed, smoothing her dress as she sat down in front of the mirror and took in her appearance. It was deplorable. The curls in her hair had mostly fallen out, and were strewn about her head wildly. The fancy clips and pins were nowhere near their original places and she was positive she had lost at least a few in last night's events. Aside from her hair being a complete mess, she looked fairly decent-except for her face. Her eyes were puffy and red, from crying no doubt. Makeup smeared all down her cheeks, stained with tears. After coming back to the dormitory, she remembered that she lay down in bed and the tears began to flow from her eyes. She cried silently though, so silently in fact, she almost forgot it happened altogether. But after seeing her face again, she remembered. Vividly remembered. And once again, she began to feel the familiar sting behind her eyes that were a forewarning for the tears.

She let out the first sob and let the guilt finally crush down on her. She had done the one thing she had been afraid of, fell for the bad guy. She had the most wonderful boy at her will last night, everyone happy with the relationship and approving of it, and she went and screwed it all up.

What in Merlin's name was she going to do? How was she going to tell everyone? How would they react? And who should she choose?

On one hand, there was Harry Potter. The boy who lived. The chosen one. The boy that girls would kill to be able to tell their parents they went to the dance with the kid who defeated the Dark Lord. He was her best friend, and he knew her like nobody else did. And she loved him. She wasn't _in love_ with him, but she did love him, and she knew that one day she possibly could be in love with him. And he had feelings for her as well…Or so she thought. He did ask Cho to the dance before her, did he not? Thus the basis of their whole argument last night.

And on the other hand, there was Draco Malfoy. The mysterious, dangerous, sexy Slytherin who had been her friend long before Harry was ever in the picture. And as well as Harry knew Arra, Draco knew the sides of her that even she didn't want to know. Her dark sides. The sides that made her a Slytherin at first. But he accepted her for them, in fact, sometimes he even supported it, which scared Arra a bit. But the fact that he fought for her against Harry and every other guy out there outshined the bad things about him. When Harry would break her heart, Draco was there to put it back together. It sometimes seemed like they belonged together. But then again, Draco was a Slytherin, he might not be too fond of the idea of openly dating a Gryffindor. Arra knew his family wouldn't approve.

And so here sat Arra, wiping her eyes with a tissue, her crying over for now, with a very difficult choice to make.

Arra skipped breakfast that day, and rather took a walk down to the lake. Eventually, she came across the tree where her and Harry sat last night. Scowling at it, she stared at it with her arms crossed. "Nature sucks." She said to the tree, as if last night was it's fault.

The tree continued to stand there, being all beautiful and majestic. It made Arra sick. She ran forward and kicked it, "OUCH!" She grabbed her foot as pain shot through her toes up her leg. Jumping up and down, she eventually fell down on her bum and, in frustration, just lay down in the snow and sighed.

"There you are, Arra!" A voice shouted at her a few minutes later and her head shot up, eyes wide. Hermione was walking towards her, books in hand. She plopped down in the snow next to her and immediately started chatting away, "Did you have breakfast yet?" She asked as she held out and apple.

Arra sat up and shook her head, taking the apple and biting in to it, "You didn't go down to the Great Hall?" She said, her mouth full of fruit.

"No, I spent all morning in the library."

Arra scrunched up her nose, "Why?"

Hermione flipped through pages of her book a bit more violently than necessary, "I didn't want to run in to anyone that I don't want to see at this point in time."

Arra crunched into her apple again, "You mean the ginger kid."

Hermione flashed her eyes, "Yes. Ronald was a bit of a pain last night."

"Why, what happened?"

Now it was Hermione's turn to look confused, "You don't know?"

Arra shook her head, "If you remember, I was a bit preoccupied last night."

Hermione pursed her lips, "Oh, yes. How could I forget. But anyways, I was having a right good time with Viktor until Ron started acting like a complete arse about it! 'Fraternizing with the enemy!' He's so childish! It was completely ridiculous and unnecessary!"

Arra smirked, "Oh, yes, because it is _sooo unlike _Ron to be childish and unnecessary!" She said with a sarcastic tone.

Hermione scowled, "You," she pointed at her with her quill, "have _NO _room to talk, Miss I-can-kiss-whoever-I-want-with-no-consequences!"

Arra gave a half smile, "That seems a bit long, may we decide on something shorter?"

Hermione put down the quill, "Arra, this is serious. What are you going to do?"

"First, I'm going to finish this apple," she swallowed down the last bite, "And then…I haven't planned that far in the future."

"So are you and Malfoy er…together now? Like, are you two a thing?"

"Honestly, I don't know."

"Are you and Harry still a thing then?"

"I don't know."

"Are you going to tell Harry about last night?"

"I don't know."

"Gosh, Arra, what _do _you know?"

"The ABC's backwards." She said seriously as Hermione stared at her incredulously. "No, for real, I really do know that."

Hermione was not amused, "This is important. I don't think you realize that."

Arra shook her head, "Hermione, I realize that it's important. I honestly just don't know what to do about it. I mean, when things get serious, usually I just ignore it until it goes away…but that doesn't really seem like a likely solution at this point."

Hermione furiously continued scribbling on her paper and sighed. "Arra, you are ridiculous."

Arra looked down in to her lap, "Sorry…" She looked at Hermione with a small smile, waiting for her best friend to look back at her.

Hermione peeked out of the corner of her eye, saw Arra, and scowled even more. In response, Arra scooted closer to her, all the while staring at her with that signature smile. Without looking up, Hermione said, "Stop looking at me."

"I'm not looking at you," Arra said, keeping her eyes on Hermione, "I'm looking at the button on your shirt. It's mesmerizing…"

Hermione huffed and finally stared back at Arra, a furious look in here eyes, only to see Arra holding back laughter. "How are you laughing at a time like this?"

For the first time in the conversation, Arra looked serious, "Hermione, I've had way to much bad stuff happen in my short life to not appreciate the small things that make me smile. I have to laugh at things, for fear of being stuck with a frown for the rest of my life. And for me, that means going back to the 'Old Arra'."

Both girls knew that "Old Arra" meant Slytherin Arra. Mean, angry, muggle-hating Arra. Hermione's face softened, "We both know that you'll never be like that again."

Arra stared out at the lake with a sad face and sighed, "_I don't know_."

After her talk with Hermione, Arra headed up to her dormitory and plopped down in her desk chair. She snatched a piece of parchment and a quill and began to write:

_Dear Dad, _

_FOREWARNING: The contents of this letter are confidential! I send you these thoughts only because I consider you to be a cool dad, and not uptight and parental!_

_So, the ball really wasn't as fun as I hoped it would be. But I did really enjoy the dress, I definitely looked much hotter than all the other girls. But I'm probably sure that's not what you want to hear from your daughter. Although, your parenting skills aren't quite up to standard, so you might be extremely proud that your daughter put all those other uglies to shame! Ugh, I'm sorry, that was kinda mean to say. But I don't care, I'm having a bad day! I won't go in to details, but let's just say I did something I didn't mean to do. Don't worry, you're not going to be a grandfather or anything, so don't get your wand in a knot! I just don't think that things between me and Harry are going to work out. He just doesn't seem to want this as bad as I do. Although, I did kiss another boy so that may be part of it…but it's mostly scar-face's fault! _

_This letter is really strange…But I'm in a strange mood lately. Anyways, I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and that Kreacher made you a good dinner, because we both know you can't cook worth a damn._

_Write back soon, hopefully with advice,_

_Arra_

Arra read over the letter and frowned, her father was going to think she was crazy. She shrugged and sealed the letter. Pulling on her boots, she made her way to the Owlery to borrow one of the school's owls. She stared at the ground the whole way, lost in her thoughts, until she bumped into a figure.

"Oops, sorry! Wasn't looking where I was going-" She stopped abruptly when she saw who it was she had hit. "Bloody hell, what are you doing here?"

"I'm allowed to go wherever I want in the castle, thank you very much." Draco Malfoy smirked down at her.

Arra pushed past him and continued up the stairs to the Owlery, "Stupid boys," She muttered.

Draco spun around in surprise and continued after here, "Whoa, what's wrong?"

Arra shook her head and kept walking, "So many things…"

"Like what? Nothing was wrong last night!"

Arra turned on her heel so she was staring right into Malfoy's face, "I messed up last night. So forget about it."

"How am I just supposed to _forget_ about that? You kissed me and admitted that you felt something for me!"

Arra opened her mouth to respond but just ended up frowning, "Well, I didn't mean to!"

Malfoy scowled, "Is this because of Potter?"

"Partly…but it's also because being together wouldn't be good for _either_ of us! I'm in Gryffindor, you're in Slytherin!"

"Oh, come on! It's like that whole "forbidden love" thing!" Draco provided, like a little kid.

Arra put her finger up, right in his face, "One! This," she gestured to them, "is _not _love. Two! This is also not a good idea." She whirled around to walk around.

But not before Malfoy shot his arm out, caught her, and spun her around to place his lips on hers. Sparks started to fly in Arra's head and her skin got hot, even though it was below freezing outside. Their mouths moved in unison, as if they were made for each other. Slowly, their kissing became more tender before Draco finally pulled away and put his forehead against hers, "How can you say _that _is not good?" He whispered.

Arra let out a shaky breath, "You have _got _to stop doing that!"

Draco smirked and looked into her dark eyes, "No."


	29. What Now?

**I won't even begin to apologize for the delay, I know it's unforgivable...Okay, yes I will. PLEASE PLEASE FORGIVE ME! **

**Whew, I'm done begging now. But I missed you all! And I hope you enjoy chapter 28**

"So, what now?" Arra asked Draco as they walked down the stairs to the Owlery, holding hands.

"What about what?" Draco responded.

"What about us? Are we…together?"

He paused, "Do you want to be?"

She looked up at him, "I don't know. I don't think so. I mean, not out in the open I guess. Is

that mean to say?"

Draco scrunched up his face, "Like how do you mean?"

Arra searched for the right words, "I guess, I just don't want people to know we're dating…I'm sorry!" She looked at him with an apologetic face.

His eyes widened, "Oh, no don't be! I don't want anyone to know we're dating either!"

She frowned in surprise and raised an eyebrow, "You don't?"

He laughed, "Arra, don't take it personally! But like you said, it really wouldn't be good for either of us at this point. So we'll just keep it between us."

She bit her lip, "So we're secretly dating each other?" Draco nodded enthusiastically, pleased with the plan. Arra smiled back, but could only think of a certain scar faced Gryffindor.

With things worked out between her and Draco, Arra knew she needed to work things out with Harry. But, she was procrastinating.

It had been two full days since the Yule Ball, and Arra had done an incredibly fabulous job of avoiding Harry. Mostly she went to places he tended to avoid—the girl's dormitories and the library. Today she was relaxing in the dormitories, when a knock at the window got her attention. Walking over to it, she found an owl waiting for her.

Excited, she gave the owl a knut and ripped open the letter:

_Arra Love, _

_What the bloody hell did you do now? Harry and you seemed fine when you told me you were going to the ball! And what perverted little boy did you kiss?_

_How was that? Did I sound parental? I was giving it a shot. Molly Weasley keeps criticizing my parental skills. She's worried that I let you run around and do whatever you want! And I don't. I usually check if it's going to be entirely life threatening first. I feel our system works fairly well for both of us, don't you agree?_

_But seriously Love, you've got to stop toying with that kid's emotions! I know sometimes he can be an arse, but all boys are. You must learn this, child. But he is my godson, so I can't hate him. So don't mess it up! Ugh, I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this stern parental punishing thing, am I?_

_How are things going with the tournament? You didn't mention it in the last letter. Did Harry figure out the egg yet?_

_Write back soon,_

_Sirius._

_Oops, I mean, Dad._

Arra shook her head and smiled at her father's incompetence as a parent. But she liked it that way. Her relationship with her father was unique, just like them. They could talk about anything without it being incredibly awkward and he never made her feel uncomfortable with certain subjects. She loved the Weasleys and the Grangers both like they were her own families, but it was nice to not have to worry about her father snapping her wand in half if she got in detention. Ron had told her on more than one occasion that he wished he had a relationship like she did with his parents. Arra didn't have to share parents with 7 siblings, and her dad was just awesome. But of course, Sirius felt like he had a lot to make up for what with being in Azkaban the first 12 years of her life and having to send her to her evil Aunt. And Arra felt like she had to make up for the fact that she was sort of evil for a while. She didn't want her father to be ashamed of her. But she highly doubted that was possible.

She folded up the letter, and stuffed in into the drawer of her nightstand so that she could answer it later. She hurriedly walked over to the mirror to take in her appearance, which at the moment, was satisfactory—just the way she wanted to look. She felt that it was best if she looked as normal as possible for what she was about to do.

Bounding down the steps leading to the girl's dormitories, she stopped just before the entryway to the common room. Arra pressed her back to the side of the wall and carefully edged her head around the corner to take in the situation before her.

Seeing as how it was only 10 o'clock, Arra had expected the common room to be busy and bustling with students, but it was practically empty. There were a few fourth years in one corner of the room talking excitedly amongst themselves, and Fred and George were arguing over something in hushed whispers at one of the table, no doubt about a new product they were creating. Other than those few groups, there was only the set of three people she was looking for. Harry and Ron were sitting on the floor next to the fire playing a game of exploding snap, and Hermione lounged on the couch next to them, reading a book. Taking a deep breath, she entered the common room, head held high.

"Hey guys," Arra said, plopping down on the couch next to Hermione, trying to act natural. "Who's winning?" Gesturing to the game of exploding snap, "What are you reading?" She babbled quickly Hermione. _Yeah, natural. Right, _She thought to herself.

Her feeble attempt at acting nonchalant did not go unnoticed by her friends, who all stared at her with confusion. "Hi," Hermione said hesitantly, "How are you, Arra?"

Arra frowned a bit, "I'm fine. Why would I not be?" A silent understanding seemed to exchange between Ron, Harry, and Hermione as they all glanced at each other.

Arra sighed, "Look, there was a misunderstanding between Harry and I and also between you two," She gestured to Ron and Hermione. "There was yelling and anger and a bit of violence among us all, but we've gotten past that, correct? The four of us are best friends, we've been through more than this, so we just need to forget about it and let things go back to normal. Agreed?"

The remaining three looked at each other, shrugged, and said in unison, "Agreed."

Arra smiled, "Good." She slid onto the floor from her spot on the couch and next to Ron and Harry and the game of exploding snap, "I get to play winner!" She announced.

"Don't even bother Arra, everyone knows you suck at this game," Ron teased. In response, Arra whipped out her wand and tapped the cards, causing them to blow up and a cloud of smoke to emerge.

Coughing and sputtering, Arra and Harry waved the smoke away. "Arra!" Ron shouted with anger and surprise.

"Wha-,' Arra said before catching sight of Ron, whose eyebrows were completely singed off, his face red with anger, making him look much like a tomato. She and Harry then fell into a fit of voracious laughter, unable to form sentences into words because of Ron's ridiculous state.

"What are you both laughing at?" Ron demanded, unaware of his present predicament.

"Your eyebrows are gone," Hermione said unenthusiastically, without looking up from her book.

Ron's eyes widened as his hands flew to the hairless space above his eyes. "Bloody hell!" He moaned as Harry and Arra continued to laugh wildly. "I'm going to get you back for this one, Black! You won't know when, or where, but it is going to happen!"

Arra finally composed herself, "Bring it on, Weasley," She grinned widely, feeling that things might finally be normal again. She was here with her friends, Ron was embarrassed, Hermione was scowling un-approvingly from her book, just like always. And she and Harry were laughing together, just like old times. She ran a hand through her dark hair, but stopped when she felt the chain of a necklace at the base of her neck. Glancing down, she remembered the platinum blond haired boy who had given it to her. And the guilt came rushing back.

Okay, so maybe things weren't _just _like old times.

After another rousing round of exploding snap, Arra and Hermione decided that they had better get off to bed. Arra plopped down on her bed, smiling brightly and began to pull her hair up into a ponytail. "That was fun, wasn't it?" She asked, untying her shoelaces and pulling her sneakers off of her feet.

Hermione placed her book on her shelf slowly, "Yes, it was."

Arra frowned, "You okay? You seemed sort of quiet down there."

Hermione slowly walked over to her own bed and sat down on it so that she was facing her best friend, "I'm just confused. Three days ago you were fawning over Harry, two days ago you kissed Malfoy, and now you're acting completely normal. What's going on?"

Arra sighed, "I messed up Hermione. With Harry, and Draco and everything. And I'm sorry that I put you in the middle of it by telling you—"

"Don't say that, you know you can always tell me anything, I just want to know what's going on," Hermione cut in.

Arra smiled, "Well I guess right now, Harry and I are friends. And Draco and I are…just ourselves I guess."

"Do you like him?" Hermione asked with disgust.

Arra smiled sheepishly, "Will you vomit if I say yes?"

"That is revolting,"

Arra flopped on her back and swung her legs up onto the bed as well, "Ugh, I know! Trust me, I'm not happy about it either. The whole situation, I mean. I would change it if I could, but I can't control how I feel about him!"

Hermione looked down at her feet, "So are you two a thing now?"

Arra swallowed and looked over at her friend, "Not really I suppose. I mean, I like him and I know he likes me, but we're not in an…_open relationship._" Technically, Arra wasn't really _lying _to Hermione by saying this.

"Well," The bushy haired girl said, "You had probably better work on keeping it that way until you've gotten over your feelings for him. But for now, I'll keep it a secret between me and you," She held out her pinky for Arra to grab.

Arra smiled, and linked pinkies with her friend, "Thank you."

Approximately two weeks later, lessons started again, much to everyone's dismay. Except Hermione, that is.

The four friends had been getting along famously, almost as if nothing had gone down between them. None of them ever brought up the events of the ball, so Arra was able to avert the topic of Malfoy, as she was having difficulty trying to tell them of her "relationship". The only thing that was ever brought up about him was that he was an ass—which Arra couldn't argue with. Sometimes he was a huge pain. Most of the time actually.

But then there were the times when he was exceptionally sweet. In fact, last night he had sent his owl to her room with a note to meet him in the room of requirement. When she came there, he had a romantic dinner waiting for both of them, and a dozen roses with her name on them. Afterwards, they had sat on the couch, talking about anything and everything and did quite a bit of snogging. And then more snogging.

Arra could still feel his lips pressed to hers, his hands roaming up and down her sides, memorizing the curves of her body. She remembered sitting in his lap, her fingers entangled in his hair as he kissed her neck while whispering sweet sayings in her ear, making her laugh.

It was this thought that had Arra quite preoccupied on Monday morning before classes started. She sat at her desk, attempting to finish the letter to her father, but instead just staring out the window with a stupid grin plastered to her face.

"Arra," Hermione said, stuffing her books into her bag.

"Mmmm…" Arra barely acknowledged, still reliving the past night's events in her head. That is, until a pillow collided with it. "Ouch! What?" She asked, rubbing her skull where Hermione had hit her with the object.

"Send that letter and grab your bag, we've got to go or we'll be late for Care of Magical Creatures," Hermione said hastily.

"Fiiiiiiine," Arra drawled and quickly scribbled on the note:

_Dad, _

_Come to the second task next week and I'll tell you everything. Or, most of it anyway._

_Love,_

_Arra_

She folded up the letter quickly, handed it to her owl, Bob (Sirius named him that, his real name is Apollo, but her father felt the need to call him Bob for some reason), and grabbed her bag to meet her friends at the bottom of the stairs.

"Harry, the second task is next week, you _still _haven't figured out the egg?" Arra asked incredulously as they walked across the lawn towards Hagrid's hut.

Harry started, "It's difficult! I have no idea where to even start with that thing. Every time I open it, it just starts screaming at me."

"Have you tried screaming back?" Ron offered.

"Oh yes, Ronald, because that will really help," Hermione said sarcastically. "After class today we'll all go figure it out together at the—"

"Library," The three said in unison.

Hermione's eyes narrowed, "Yes, the _library_, and we won't give up until we've gotten an answer!"

"No amount of time or library research is going to help Potter win this challenge, Granger," A drawling voice came from behind them. Arra's heart skipped a beat as soon as she heard it, and didn't have to turn around to see who it was.

"Shove off, Malfoy. You're just upset because Harry's in the tournament and you're not," Hermione sneered.

"Right, I'm just dying to put myself through useless tasks just to prove how much of an idiot I am to the school," Malfoy feigned dramatically.

"You don't have to be in a tournament to prove yourself an idiot, Malfoy. Everyone in the school already knows," Arra smirked at him.

"The school may say many things about me, Black, but it most certainly has nothing to do with my intelligence," He said, matching her sneer.

"Come on, we'll be late for class," Hermione said, turning away from Malfoy and continuing towards the forest.

Draco continued to stare angrily after Ron, Hermione, and Harry, but his facial expression softened when he glanced back at Arra. She too, smiled at him, pleased that they were able to keep their relationship hidden so easily.

"Don't let him bother you, mate," Ron was saying as Arra turned back around from the beautiful blonde haired boy. "Hermione's right, he's just jealous!"

Harry sighed, "Right. We're just going to need _a lot_ of time in the library tonight."

During class, they were split up into groups of two to study some samples Hagrid gave them, and then decide which magical animal the all belonged to. Harry and Ron had chosen to be partners, and Arra and Hermione worked with each other as well.

"I think this one is unicorn hair," Hermione said as she crouched over a pile of samples, avidly comparing notes and pictures to make sure she was absolutely correct. "What do you think, Arra?"

"Hmm, what?" The dark-haired girl said. Arra was lounging lazily on a rock behind Hermione, switching her gaze between the two objects of her affections: Harry and Draco. Harry was working with Ron, both staring at the samples with looks of absolute confusion, both of them too lost to realize that they were just looking at grass. Draco, however, was yelling at Goyle, his own partner, who had somehow burned himself and had singed the edges of Draco's homework. Arra thought to herself, _They are both so stupid. How in the world am I attracted to either one of them?_

"Unicorn hair, yes?" Hermione said, shoving the sample up to Arra's face.

"Uhh, yeah, sure," Arra answered, trying to figure out what they were talking about.

Hermione's eyes narrowed, "What were you looking at over here? You have this weird look that you get when you see something you like…" She said, craning her neck around to see Arra's view. "EW! Were you looking at Malfoy?"

Arra scoffed, trying to sound normal, "NO! I was looking at Harry!" She said, pointing about two feet from where Draco and Goyle were working, sat Harry and Ron.

Hermione seemed skeptical, but bought Arra's lie, "Okaaaaay, if you say so. So I assume you don't like Malfoy anymore? I mean, you certainly didn't act like it when we talked to him earlier."

Arra shook her head, "Nah," She lied, "I don't think so. His…hair, is um, too greasy for me. Yep," She nodded enthusiastically.

The bushy haired girl nodded along with her, "Sure. Either way, our main focus right now is making sure that Harry figures out that egg. We can talk about your overflowing love life later."

Arra nodded, "Yes, absolutely," She agreed, they really did need to help Harry figure this thing out. "Where do we even start to even _try _to solve something like that?"

"Well I'm sure there's a pattern in the message the egg gives out—"

"You mean the screaming?"

"Yes," Hermione nodded. "And if we just come up with a way to figure out what the screaming is saying, or what it means, then we can look up a possible solution."

"Good plan, except nobody can listen to that thing scream for more than 5 seconds before they start to go crazier than Gilderoy Lockhart!"

"Oh! He was such a good writer! It's so sad that he can't even remember who he is anymore!" Hermione said, thinking back nostalgically on their good-looking liar of a teacher from second year.

Arra laughed, "Hermione! He tried to erase Harry and Ron's memories!"

She scoffed, "Well _aside_ from that point, he was just so…" She looked off dreamily.

"Yeah, we got it. He was _dreamy_!" Arra playfully drew out the last word and draped the back of her hand across her forehead as if she was a damsel in distress.

"Well he's better looking than Malfoy!" Hermione shot back, shutting Arra up at once. A satisfied smirk was placed on Hermione's face the rest of the class.

"What do you mean he told you to take a bath?" Ron asked, a partial look of disgust on his face.

"Maybe he smells," Arra whispered in Ron's ear helpfully.

Harry's eyes widened, "Arra I do not smell! And I don't know! He just told me that he appreciated the help I gave him on the first task, and that I should go to the prefect's bathroom and take a bath with my egg!"

As the four friends were walking back up to the castle after class, Cedric Diggory, the Hufflepuff champion, pulled Harry aside to speak with him in private. Apparently it was to tell him that his personal hygiene was not up to par.

"What would that even accomplish?" Hermione questioned, "Oh! Maybe he's left you the real answer in the prefect's bathroom!"

Harry shook his head, "I have no idea, I—Ron! Stop sniffing me!" He swatted away the redhead, who was attempting to discern if the great Harry Potter did in fact have a nasty case of body odor.

"Nope," Ron said, coming to his conclusion and falling back into step with Arra, "The bloke smells fresh as a daisy."

"Daisies, huh? That's cute, Harry. Maybe that's what Cedric left you in the bathroom—more daisy scented soap!" Arra provided, to which Ron nodded in agreement.

"You two," Hermione gestured to Ron and Arra, "Knock it off! You're not helping the situation."

"Mate, just go do what Cedric says, it's worth a shot. I mean, we don't really have any other bright ideas for figuring this egg out right now, do we?" Ron suggested.

Harry considered this, "But what if it's a trap? What if he only told me to go there so I would get in trouble or something?"

"Then Dumbledore will kick you out of the competition and we won't have to worry about it anymore!" Arra said, "But if it's not, and he really is trying to help, then we'll just be one step closer to winning the whole thing!"

They all exchanged looks, a silent understanding falling over the group, "I think they're right, Harry," Hermione finally said, "We've got nothing to lose at this point." Harry nodded in response.

"Well," Arra said excitedly, clapping her hands together, "It's decided then! Harry will go take a bath with his egg, Hermione will probably go to the library because it's just what Hermiones do, and Ron and I will go down to the kitchens and get some firewhiskey so we can finally celebrate solving this stupid egg tonight!"

Harry laughed, Hermione scowled but hid a smile behind it, and Ron just nodded happily—oh how that ginger kid loved his firewhiskey. "Alright," Harry agreed, "But you all have to be in the common room when I come back so we can talk about it."

"Of course," Arra said, pulling Ron away from the group and towards the kitchens, "Just figure out that egg! And…don't forget the daisy soap!"

**Next chapter: THE SECOND TASK! **

**Follow the three R's for a greener planet: Read, Review, and Re-Read!**

**Love you all!**

**-Mav**


	30. A Night of Confusion

**Ugh, so I know there is no excuse for such a delay but here is just a short bit until the next update which will contain the ENTIRE second task, this is just a preview to hold you over until I'm done with it! I've just had so much going on and I won't bore you with the details, but I have decided that boys are evil demonic spirits and I hate them. :) Oh, and I also wanted to say a big thank you to all my reviewers who don't sign in when they review so I can't send you a personal thank you! Next time sign in because I always like to take the time to say thank you for reviewing because it really means a lot to me! I love you all!**

"Say it again, Harry," Hermione commanded, pacing across the floor of the library, practically ripping her hair out from frustration.

Much to Arra and Ron's dismay, there was no daisy soap left in the bathroom for Harry, but he did happen to figure out the egg. However, their short-lived victory only led them to another problem—deciphering the eerie poem the egg had told him.

"Come seek us where our voices sound, we cannot sing above the ground," Harry droned, his head resting on one of the many open books surrounding the four friends. "And while you're searching, ponder this, we've taken what you'll sorely miss. An hour long you'll have to look to recover what we took, but past an hour, the prospect's black, too late it's gone, it won't come back."

Hermione nodded fervently, "Alright, so let's go through what we've figured out. The first line is obviously about the black lake, and the mermaids," She was mostly talking to herself at this point, "They've taken something from you, and you'll have an hour to look for it under the water—"

"Ah, yes, and back to our present situation—the breathing underwater for an hour part," Ron cut in, finishing his project of arranging a multitude of books into even columns across the table.

It was the evening before the second task and Harry, Ron, Hermione and Arra had been sitting in the library since lunch time. Going through book after book, they searched for a spell or charm or something that would enable Harry to breathe underwater for an hour, but they had come up with nothing so far.

"I don't think it can be done," Ron continued.

Hermione shook her head, "No, there must be a way! They wouldn't assign you a task that was undoable!"

Arra looked up from the book she was flipping through, "Well they didn't mean to. I'm sure that this is a simple problem for a seventh year, but we're fourth years! We don't know anything about human transfiguration or advanced charms or any of that mumbo jumbo yet." She closed the book with a thud and a grim face.

Harry nodded, "Arra's right, this is ridiculous."

"What I'm pissed about," Arra said, "is that you straight up told Cedric about the dragons in the first task. Gave him the complete task! And what does he do in return—tell you to take a bath! Not anything straightforward like, 'Oh here Harry, the task is to go in the lake, let me tell you how to help yourself out with that, seeing as how you're only just a little fourth year!'" She said in her best Cedric Diggory voice, which wasn't close to the real one at all.

"That's cheating, Arra," Hermione said, still scanning her eyes over the pages of the books. Cedric just can't _give _Harry the answers to the task…" She trailed off, lost in the literature once again.

Ron snapped his fingers, "Hey! How long does it take to become an animagus? I mean, Harry's dad and Sirius both taught themselves, I bet Harry could do it too!"

"In 8 hours? You have an awful lot of faith the scarhead there," A drawling voice came from the end of the bookshelf. Arra's heart did a little backflip of nervousness, but she kept her face stoic.

"Malfoy," Ron seethed, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I've come to join the little Golden Group on your many adventures to triumph over evil and make the world all good and smiley and bake cakes for the homeless!" He said with mock excitement. "Piss off Weasley," He said regaining his usual demeanor, "McGonagall saw me in the hallway, told me to come and find you two." He gestured to Arra and Hermione.

Arra stood up quickly, "I swear that dungbomb in the common room was _not _me!"

"I don't know what it's about, she just wants to see you now," Malfoy responded with malice in his voice, but Arra could see in his eyes that it wasn't real.

Arra groaned, "Fine, come on Hermione," She said, beckoning her bushy haired friend. Arra leaned down in front of Harry's chair, "Keep looking for an answer, I'll be back soon. We _will _do this Harry, I promise I won't let you drown," She smiled at him with sincerity and stood straight to follow Malfoy out of the library.

"I'll follow in a bit Arra, I think I'm on to something here," Hermione said quietly, scribbling down notes onto a bit of parchment.

"Arra," Harry said just before she rounded the corner, gaining her attention once again, pausing before continuing to speak. "I just wanted to say…um..."

"Yes?" She said, taking a step back towards his chair.

"Uh…just, hurry back, okay?" He said with complete honesty.

"Yeah, I will," She promised, a bit crestfallen, for she thought he would say something a bit more…exciting.

Kicking herself for screwing up her terrible, half-hearted relationship with the one and only Harry Potter, Arra turned a corner to come face to face with the main reason for her treachery.

"Is Granger following you?" He asked, craning his neck to see behind her.

Arra scowled, "Not yet," And she swept past him, heading down the hallway.

"Whoa, excuse me?" He said, following her, "Have I done something to upset you?" He asked accusingly.

"Yes. No. I mean, I don't know!" She said, continuing to walk with him close on her heels.

"What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean?"

She rounded on him, "It means, that I am a terrible person who lies to her best friends about the boy she is seeing and is too embarrassed to tell them the truth!"

He looked so confused, "Where the hell is all of this coming from? We've been fine the whole time until right now when you went all wonky!"

Her eyes widened, "I'm a _GIRL_, Draco! Emotions and thoughts just pop up in my head like flowers! If you knew anything about me at all then you would know that I'm a complete nutter when it comes to things like this!"

"Things like _what?_ Things like me?"

She rolled her eyes, "Yes! Things like this! Like relationships! I have no idea what I'm doing! I have no idea what the proper steps are that we're supposed to be taking for this! Is there paperwork? Do I need to take a test to become a 'certified girlfriend'? Do I get a certificate so that I can prove to everyone that I'm not completely useless at this sort of stuff?" She blabbered on, continuing down the corridor to Professor McGonagall's office.

It was now Draco's turn to roll his eyes, "Come here," He said, pulling her into the nearest empty classroom and shutting the door behind them. "Now," he said, placing his hands on her upper arms, holding her in front of him, "What's all this about?"

She sighed, placing her hands on his chest, "I just feel like I'm doing this wrong. Like I'm going to screw it up. Maybe I already have," She whispered quietly.

He frowned, "Why do you think that?"

She shook her head, "I just don't know if I can balance all of this. I feel like I'm leading a double life! And if I try and mesh the two of them, I just know I'll loose one. And I can't bear to lose either you or my friends."

Draco smiled, "As much of an insufferable group of complete asses your friends are, I can put up with them for you."

She broke away from him, "See, it's things like that that make me worry! How can you say things like that about my friends and expect me to be okay with it? And they say the same things about you! How can I ever be expected to tell them about you? I know you Draco, and you _won't_ put up with them, nor do I want you to have to be forced to do that."

"So, what are you saying?" His eyes narrowed. "Are we breaking up?"

"No." She said sternly. "I just need…to gather my thoughts, okay?" She asked with pleading eyes. "Can we please just talk about this again later? Right now, I just need to go talk to McGonagall and then get back to helping Harry."

He definitely did not look happy about her decision, but decided to go with it anyway. "Fine."

"Okay," She said, walking past him to the door, before turning around to face him again, "I'm sorry that I'm so difficult."

He nodded with a smirk, "Yeah me too. But you always have been flawed, Arra. But it's one of the things I love about you."

She gave him a small sad smile, before opening the door, leaving the classroom, and shutting it behind her.

**Today for reviewing, I have fettucine alfredo! I went to Olive Garden last night so I've been pigging out on my leftovers, and I will share with my lovely reviewers!**


	31. The Second Task

**I could go into the whole story of why I haven't updated...but I feel like the only thing I can say is this: There aren't words in the English Dictionary to express how sorry I am for almost a whole year without updating. Still be my friends? :)**

"You've got to be joking."

Arra and Hermione stood in Professor McGonagall's office, dumbfounded at the request of their teacher.

"I'm afraid not, Miss Black. You and Miss Granger are to be two of the possessions of the champions to be recovered." McGonagall said.

"At the bottom of the lake?" Hermione screeched, obviously not okay with being held underwater for hours waiting to be rescued.

"Won't we like…die?" Arra questioned.

"Hardly," McGonagall chided. "You'll be placed under a spell to make you unconscious throughout the task. You won't need to breathe underwater and you'll only come to once you're champion has retrieved you and you surface."

Arra cringed. Even though she trusted McGonagall and Dumbledore to keep her safe during the task, she still felt mildly uncomfortable with being underwater for that long, being basically a corpse until she hit the surface.

"Speaking of champions," Hermione said, "why is it that Harry has two people to recover?"

McGonagall blinked, "Miss Black is Harry's prize. You, Miss Granger, are Viktor Krum's."

At this point, all the serious tension in the room broke as Arra snorted out a most unladylike laugh. Hermione rounded on her at once with one of her most deadly scowls. "Piss off, Arra!"

Arra wiped the tears from her eyes that had sprung up from her laughter, "I'm sorry, Hermione! I just never thought in a million years that Quidditch star Viktor Krum would have to rescue my best friend from the bottom of the lake because he's got a wicked crush on her!"

"Well same thing goes for you and Harry!" Hermione shot back.

At once Arra stopped laughing and her eyes widened. _Oh shit, _she thought. Of all the things in the world that they could have chosen, Dumbledore considered her to be the thing that Harry would miss most. And if Dumbledore sees something there, then there must be. And at that thought, she couldn't help an enormous smile cross her face.

"Well if you two ladies are done bickering, would you please make your way out to the lake where you will meet the Headmaster, Miss Delacour and Miss Chang."

Arra's happiness faded and was quickly replaced with her snarky self, "Cho Chang?" She snapped.

McGonagall's eyes narrowed, "Yes. For Mr. Diggory. Now, go."

"We need to stop by the library first, Professor. We promised the boys that we would return."

"No. Mr. Potter cannot know that you are to be the item he is retrieving. He will be just fine and you'll see him tomorrow after the task. Now I'm not going to tell you again—go."

Arra shirked in response to the professor's gaze and followed Hermione out of the room.

The person that the one and only Harry Potter would miss most—her. She seemed to walk with a little skip in her step as her and Hermione made their way down to the shore of the black lake. After all this time and all the muck they had been through, her and Harry were still not off the table completely. If Dumbledore had only chosen her because she was Harry's friend, why not choose Ron? They had been friends longer than Harry and Arra anyway. It was because that wise old man had sensed something more between them. And even if it came to something like relationships, Arra trusted Dumbledore to very rarely be wrong.

"We've only really been on one real date and we didn't do anything other than kiss!" Hermione explained to a very scatterbrained Arra, who wasn't listening at all. "Hello, Arra?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, totally," she murmured a generic answer, for she had no idea what was going on.

Hermione glared, "You weren't even listening, were you?"

"Uhhh…"

"Viktor!" She screeched, not waiting for an answer.

"Oh! So you're mad that you're the thing that Viktor would miss most?"

She sighed, "Not really mad, per se, more just surprised."

Arra shrugged, "Hermione, you've got the best seeker in the world drooling at your feet and you're complaining. I say just go with it."

"I'm not complaining, I'm just not sure if I'm leading him on or not. I don't even know if I really feel that strongly about him."

Arra smirked, "Why? Got your knickers in a twist over someone else?"

"Hardly," Hermione huffed. "Come on," She said as she led the last bit out of the front door and down the field into range of the black lake.

"Ah, ladies," Dumbledore said as they approached, "Lovely of you to join us."

Dumbledore was surrounded by Barty Crouch, Cho Chang and a girl that seemed to be a younger looking version of Fleur. Likely a sister, Arra supposed.

"Now that the other two have arrived, follow me," Crouch said, turning on his heel and heading out to a boat anchored to the dock. "Everyone in."

They clambered in after one another until all six were packed tightly into the small boat. Crouch took out his wand, tapped the bow of the boat and it sped off into the night.

"Lumos," he muttered and held his wand out over the water to light the way as they drove.

Arra was smashed uncomfortably between Hermione and Cho. And much in Hermione fashion, she immediately started up a conversation over the top of Arra.

"So, Cho, are you nervous to be under the water?" Hermione asked. Out of the corner of her eye, Arra gave her a look as if to say, _what the heck? _Hermione shrugged nervously in response.

"Um, I'm not really sure. It wouldn't be my first choice of what do to tonight, but hopefully Cedric will just hurry up and get me out of there." She answered with a small smile. It certainly was hard to hate her with all that niceness she had going for her.

But somehow, Arra found a way.

"Speaking of Cedric," she piped in, "seems like you two are getting pretty serious, huh?" At once Arra felt a sharp pain in her right leg and she knew that Hermione had kicked her for intruding.

"I suppose, yes." She smiled again and tucked her hair behind her ear. "He asked me to go steady with him after the ball so I guess we're heading in that direction."

"That's nice," Arra said, attempting a sincere smile which she was fairly sure looked like she had just swallowed a lemon. She quickly turned to Hermione and stuck her tongue out like a 10 year old to her best friend.

"Here we are," Crouch spoke up as the boat came to a stop next to another dock. One by one they exited the boat to wait for instructions.

Dumbledore lent down to the water and made a very strange sound just above the surface. Arra frowned until she saw a figure emerge from the water. A mermaid.

"Dumbledore speaks mermaid?" Hermione asked, leaning over to talk in Arra's ear.

She shrugged, "I guess. Please, that man can probably talk to trees, yarn and crayons too."

"Actually," Dumbledore said, rising from the dock, "I prefer ribbons over yarn," he said with his characteristic twinkle. "Now, I will now place upon you all the spell that will make you unconscious until you reach the surface. It will only work when you are underwater so I will perform the magic now, and then you will all jump into the lake to be taken down to the bottom."

"We are _so _going to die," Hermione said, shifting her weight from one foot to the other in nervousness, as Dumbledore began to wave his wand and say a spell.

He pointed his wand into the air and a shower of dust came over the four girls. Fleur's sister sneezed.

"After you, ladies," Dumbledore said, gesturing to the water.

Cho and went in first, unafraid of the darkness below her. Upon her contact with the water, her body immediately went unconscious and limp and the mermaid took her under. Fleur's sister followed.

Arra cringed at the sight of Cho's seemingly dead body. She didn't want to look like that. Especially in front of a boy she liked.

_Uh oh, s_he thought. Draco. What would he think of her being the thing that Harry Potter would miss most?

The mermaid surfaced again, beckoning her and Hermione to jump into the water as well.

"Well," Hermione said, gulping as if to swallow her fear, "I guess this is it."

"Jump in with me?" Arra said, feeling the same fear as she held out her hand to her friend. Hermione nodded as she grasped her palm.

"Okay, one…"

_Draco can't really be that upset with me, it's not like I asked to be in this thing. And besides—it's Harry._

"Two…"

_You know what? I can do what I want. He doesn't own me. We're not married, we're just…snogging occasionally. _

"Three!"

_Fuck it. Let him be mad._

And she jumped.

"Aaaargh!" Arra sputtered as she opened her eyes. For a moment she had no idea what was happening. She was in the water, had just woken up and was coughing up a nasty storm while trying to wave her arms and legs around to keep afloat. Cheers had erupted from somewhere around her, and she noticed a nearby dock with a throng of people.

The second task.

_Whew, _she thought, glad to be done and over with it. It wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it would be. She didn't even remember it. She smiled and relaxed a bit as she realized that Harry had come through for her after all. She swiveled around in the water to find him—he wasn't there.

Panic struck and she darted around in the water looking for her rescuer, nowhere to be seen.

"Harry?" She yelled. "Where are you?"

"Arra!" A voice yelled behind her. She quickly jerked her head around and saw him—her scarface, sputtering as he broke through the surface of the water.

Quickly she swam over to him and threw her arms around his neck. Her weight however, with nothing underneath them, pushed the two back under the water a little bit.

"Sorry!" She backed off immediately, "Not trying to drown you."

"It's okay, Arra," he laughed and then suddenly stopped, "are you okay?"

Arra sniffed, and in that moment she realized that she was crying. "Oh, jeez," she said, wiping her eyes, "I must look a mess."

Somehow Harry shrugged while still treading water, "Well you've basically been dead underwater all night."

She laughed, "Crap, I must look worse than I think I do!" She raised her had to try and move her wet hair off her face to no avail.

"Nonsense," Harry grabbed her hand, "you look beautiful."

To hide her blush, Arra threw her arms around him once more, burying her beet red face into his neck. Harry's arms snaked around her waist and he held her tight, both of them kicking their legs to keep them afloat this time as they embraced each other in the middle of the black lake. Without letting go of her, Harry said, "Wow, maybe I should save you more often."

She smiled, "And next time you should come to the surface faster. I was worried you were in trouble."

"Er, it was nothing. Just a little mix up with some grindylows."

Arra shivered, the cold water now getting to her, "Come on, Chosen One, I'm cold."

Reluctantly, they both pulled away from each other, but Harry still kept a hand around her waist, helping her to the dock. Once there, a multitude of hands stretched out, pulling them up to the platform, checking them for injuries and cuddling them in blankets.

"Arra!" Hermione yelled, pushing her way through the crowd with Ron in tow. She too was covered in a blanket. She threw her arms around Arra. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," she coughed from the coldness, "you?"

Hermione nodded, "I'm fine. Viktor got there quickly. He transfigured himself partially into a shark so he was able to swim fairly fast."

"Which part of him was the shark?" Arra smirked and Hermione frowned. "Hey, speaking of getting to us underwater," she turned to Harry who was sitting next to her, "how the bloody hell did you pull it off?"

"Oh, yeah, you missed that part," he said, digging in his pocket for something, "with this."

He must have used most of whatever it was, because only a small portion of something that resembled a slimy green rattail.

"Merlin's pants! What is _that_?" Arra asked, disgusted the same time Hermione shouted, "You ate Gillyweed!"

Arra held back a barf as she whispered, "Oh my God, you _ate _that?"

Ignoring a sickly looking Arra, Hermione continued, "Wherever did you get it?"

"Dobby," Ron supplied as Harry stuffed the remains back in his pocket.

Arra then drifted out of the conversation as she looked around at the people around her. Over on one of the other docks, she located the person she was looking for. Waving a "Potter Stinks" sign was Draco. She frowned. Even with her at the bottom of the lake in danger, he still rooted against Harry. She must have been scowling pretty fierce, because when he looked back at her, he matched her gaze with his own frown.

She was right. He was pissed.

With one last look she narrowed her eyes and then turned away just as Dumbledore's voice came over everyone as if using a megaphone to announce the winners.

"I can't believe it! You're tied with Cedric for first place!" Ron cheered as the four of them walked back towards the castle, smiles on their faces.

"It doesn't mean anything yet, I've still got one more task," Harry rationalized.

"Oh come off it!" Arra said, "Stop being so serious and celebrate for a moment! You're on your way to becoming the youngest Triwizard Tournament Champion ever!"

Ron clapped Harry on the back with a grin as Hermione howled in celebration along with Arra.

Arra jumped out in front of them, walking backwards in order to face the other three. "This calls for some cake and butterbeer!" She said as the others nodded in approval.

"I'll head to the kitchens and grab some supplies, you three head up to the common room. Get Fred and George to light some fireworks and let's get this party started!"

She then turned and headed on her way.

"You coming mate?" Ron asked behind her.

"Just a minute. I'll meet you there," Harry said as she heard footsteps fall into step with her own.

Out of the corner of her right eye, she saw the jet black haired boy walking next to her, suppressing a smile much like her own.

"So, er, how are you?" He asked.

"Uh, fine, I guess," she giggled a bit at their awkwardness.

He nodded, slowing his pace until he stopped completely.

Arra did a double take, noticed he had stopped and turned to face him, their bodies merely a foot apart.

"You okay?" She asked.

He kicked the ground a little bit, shuffling his feet, "Yeah I'm fine…"

"Harry—" she started just as he said, "Look, I—"

They both stopped talking, awkward silence filling the room again.

Pushed by an uncontrollable urge, she closed the distance between them and snaked her arms around his neck. In response, he enveloped her in his own arms, squeezing her hard, afraid to let go.

It seemed like hours passed as they just stood there, feeling right in each other's embrace. Finally though, Arra pulled her head back just enough to whisper in his ear, "Thanks for saving my life," before kissing him gently on the cheek.

And with that, she left a dumbfounded Harry Potter standing surprised in the corridor of Hogwart's Castle.

The skip in her step was back as she made her way down to the kitchens. She and Draco were probably going to be at each other's throats for the events of the day, but at the moment she didn't care. She had just spent a wonderful day being rescued by The Chosen One. Her scarface. Her Harry. Voldemort himself couldn't stop him from saving her it felt like. The way he looked at her when they were in the water…it just felt like nothing could stop them.

"What the bloody hell was all that about?" A drawling voice pulled her out of her current state of mind. Arra turned on her heel and saw Draco emerge out of the shadows of the hallway, clearly put out.

"Skulking in the hallways now, are we?" She wagged a finger at him, "that's awfully stalker-ish of you, sir."

In a flash his hand darted up and grabbed her wrist with his palm, holding it tightly in his grip. "I'm not in the mood, Arra," he growled, his face full of pure anger.

She twisted her hand around, unable to remover herself from his grip, "Let go of me, Draco."

"No. Not until you tell me what _that_ was all about!"

"What? _The task? _Oh my God, Draco, just stop it. Let go, you're hurting me."

His eyes narrowed, "Why? Why can't we talk about it? That's what people in a relationship do, right? They talk about when they're cheating on each other?"

Arra scoffed and pulled herself closer, right up into his face, matching his scowl, "Okay, you get your head out of your ass right now and you listen to me, Malfoy. One: this is not a relationship. This is a fucked up version of a friends with benefits thing. And two: regardless of what this is, I'm not cheating on you!"

"Right. And that bit in the lake with Potter was what?"

"It was him saving me! God, now I'm realizing why we're _not _in a relationship. "

He sneered, "And why is that?"

"Because even on your best day, you're half the man that Harry is!" She yelled and kicked hard in his groin area. He doubled over and released her arm at once. She turned on her heel and began to walk away.

His eyes watered as he struggled to say, "You're with me, Arra, because nobody else wants you."

She stopped as her breath hitched in her throat. With lack of emotion, she turned so just half her face was showing, "And after spending all night in a lake and almost drowning, I'm fine. Thanks for asking, you prat."

As soon as she got around the corner, she broke into a run, letting the tears fall down her face, sobbing with each step.

**Will have the next chapter up within the next two weeks-promise! And if I don't, you may all hunt me down and burn me at the stake. I deserve it :( I LOVE YOU ALL!**


	32. Almost

**A much shorter time between chapters this time! Be proud! Thanks to all who reviewed last chapter, I missed you all dearly and am glad you're still with me! Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own this. Damn.  
**

Arra kept running. She didn't know where she was going, all she knew was that she had to get out. Had to escape.

Finally she stopped once she realized she was outside once more. The sun was just setting over the tops of the trees of the forbidden forest and the grounds were empty. Therefore, she felt perfectly fine letting out a gut wrenching scream of anger at the top of her lungs.

"Bloody hell, child! Must you yell so loud?"

Arra whipped around, realizing that she was not alone as she had previously thought. She found herself face to face with the one person she did not expect to see, but was so glad to.

"Dad," She breathed and ran at Sirius, hugging him tightly.

Surprised by her emotional greeting, Sirius stumbled a bit at her weight, but steadied himself and hugged her back. "You are one hard girl to track down," he laughed.

She pulled back, "Huh?"

He frowned, "Did you forget that you told me to meet you at the second task?"

She blanked, "Oh, shit."

Sirius shrugged, "It's not like you could have met me anyway, what with all your canoodeling in the water with one Mr. Potter."

At the memory, tears rushed back to Arra's face as she fell most ungracefully into her father's shoulder, using him as her life size tissue.

Sirius, obviously not used to dealing with crying teenage girls tentatively patted her back, "Uhhh, are you alright love?"

"No!" She sobbed, "Do I seem alright to you?!"

Sirius huffed and grabbed her shoulders, pushing her away and holding her at arm's length, frowning at her red swollen face. "You think I have much experience with this? That would be a big NO."

Arra sniffed and rubbed her sleeve on her nose, "Sorry," she muttered.

Sirius rolled his eyes, "Come on," he said and led her over to a nearby bench. "Now," he said slowly, unsure of how to proceed, "are we supposed to share our feelings now or am I just supposed to buy you something?"

Arra let out a laugh, "I don't know if you really want to hear the whole story."

Sirius clapped his hands once and jumped to his feet, "Okay, so presents it is!"

She sniffed again, looking down at the ground.

Her father sighed, "Okay," he said sitting back down on the bench, "have at it, girl."

She grimaced, "You really want to know?"

He shrugged, "Well I guess so, if it's got you this upset that I, as your wonderful father, should hear about it. And then go kill it."

Arra paused, twiddling her thumbs idly in her lap, "I think I fucked up, dad."

"I'll kill that little ferret!" Sirius shouted, jumping to his feet at once when Arra finished her tale.

Arra grabbed his arm quickly and pulled him back down, "Dad, come on, did you not hear the story? This is _my fault_."

"Of course I heard it!" He kept shouting, "And I'm going to turn his ass into a hat!"

Arra giggled at the image in her head that her father put there.

He pointed a finger at her, "Don't you laugh! He deserves it for touching you!"

"It's my fault though! Don't you see?!"

"Of course I do! And I'm trying to be a good father and not judge you and all of your stupid decisions!"

"Can you just be a bad father for 10 seconds and yell at me for it please?! I need someone to tell me what an idiot I am, just so it all seems real!" She buried her face in her hands, crying and hiding from the world.

He sighed, rolled his eyes and placed his hand under her chin, gently forcing her face up to look at him, "You're a natural idiot, Arra. You're made from half of me, and I'm the reigning champion of stupid dumb shit."

She frowned, confused, "Thanks?"

He continued, "I can't really berate you for bad decisions, because no one's ever been around to tell you how to deal with this sort of stuff and help you make the right decisions."

"Well can you tell me what to do now?" She pleaded.

He smiled, "No."

She whined, "Why not?"

"Because that's life. You do dumb stuff and you make mistakes. You go through relationships and you get your heart broken. You go through crap that you didn't think you could possibly ever handle. You keep some great friends and you lose some bad ones. You'll love and you'll hate. You'll win battles and lose them. Life will keep you on your toes, my dear."

"Then what?" She asked.

He shrugged, "I don't know, I guess after all the crap you go through, you die."

Arra huffed and crossed her arms, "This is the most depressing pep talk of all time."

"Hey, I never said I was good at this!"

She sighed, "Can you try to be, please?"

He paused for a moment, thinking, "All you can do now, love, is just try to make things right. You _royally_ messed stuff up, but it doesn't change who you are or who you're going to be. As long as you don't let it change you, that is."

"So you think I should tell Harry?"

"Mmm, I didn't say that."

She frowned, "So you don't think I should tell him?"

He smiled mischievously, "I didn't say that either."

She sniffed once more, wiping the remaining tears off her face, "Like I said: worst pep talk ever," she laughed.

"But it still counts as a pep talk, right?" He added hopefully.

Arra laughed, "I guess."

Sirius nodded, proud of himself. "Excellent. I can cross pep talk off the 'Good Father Bucket List' now."

She looked at him, smirking, "Good for you."

He smiled back, "Yes, it is good for me. Now stop crying dear, you look like someone's version of a boggart."

She scoffed, "Love you too, Dad,"

He pulled her in for a hug, kissing the top of her head. "Always here for honesty, Arra….and I'm still going to kill the ferret."

As the month of April approached, it had been a month since the second task and the incident with Malfoy. Arra had done everything in her power to avoid him and all of his advances. She had hoped that her ignorance would have sent the message that she was done with the relationship, but Draco wasn't having it. She received an owl at least once a week asking her to meet him, and he tried to time their meetings in the hallways perfectly. Thankfully, Arra had studied the Marauder's Map enough to know the passageways to avoid him.

Since her talk with her father, Arra had decided against telling anyone about her and Malfoy. To her, it was a stupid decision and she would much rather just forget about it. Her and Harry hadn't become any closer than they were, as it had become a silent agreement that just getting through this year and the tournament were their biggest goals at this point. Someone was still out to get Harry, as they had not figured out who had put his name in the cup yet.

"I don't want to go to Divination," Ron groaned, chomping on his toast sadly as they sat in the Great Hall. It was Monday morning, a terrible time for most students, but Ron Weasley took it to a new level of sadness.

"I don't know why the three of you signed up for it anyway," Hermione said chipper as always once school was in session again. Two days off during the weekend of overachieving and Hermione started to get a bit cranky. The bushy haired girl always functioned better with a couple of Outstanding marks under her belt.

"Seemed like a good idea at the time," Arra sighed. She too affected by the Monday morning blues.

"Ancient Ruins is a good idea," Hermione chimed, going through her notes from the previous week, preparing for the day's lessons.

"I'd rather take on that dragon again than take that, Hermione," Harry said truthfully, to which Ron and Arra nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of that," Arra said, "Have you heard anything new about the third task?"

Harry shook his head, "No, just that it's going to happen on June 24th and that we should be prepared for anything."

"How does one become prepared for _anything_?" Ron asked, his mouth full sausages, "I mean, I feel like that's impossible."

Hermione shut her book and stuffed it in her bag, "It just means that Harry should be practicing. Have you?" She rounded on Harry.

He faltered, "Yeah a bit I guess. Some stunning and disarming and such."

She sighed, getting up from the table and slinging her bag across her shoulder, "Harry, you're going up against 7th years, it really wouldn't hurt to try some more advanced stuff."

"She's probably right," Ron muttered as he watched Hermione walk out of the Great Hall.

Harry nodded, "Yeah I know. I was actually talking to Sirius about it in my latest letter and he suggested," Harry leaned across the table so that he could talk to Arra in a whisper, "that I ask you about it."

Arra flushed, confused at what Harry and her father were talking about. _Malfoy_. "What?" She squeaked nervously.

Harry spoke quietly, "He said that I should ask you to teach me some stuff to help me in the task. Like stuff that the average fourth year good student doesn't know," the way he strained his words made Arra frown.

"Like _dark _stuff?" She whispered.

He grimaced, "Not super dark, no. But growing up in the Lestrange house, we all know that you know some more advanced stuff than us. Just some hexes and stuff, in case something bad pops up in the task, I want to be able to get rid of it better than just disarming it, you know?"

Arra sighed, relieved that the topic was safe…well safer than she anticipated, "Yeah, of course. I don't know a whole lot, but I know some hexes. Stronger than the jinxes we learn in class, but not as strong as a curse. It'll probably give you an edge in the competition if you've got a few in your back pocket."

He smiled, leaning back into his seat, "Great. I don't want to go down dark wizard path or anything, but your dad explained it like that too, and he said I should ask for your help."

She smiled, "Well of course not, we can't have the Great Harry Potter being affiliated with dark magic. Might ruin your golden boy image. And speaking of, we actually can't have you being affiliated with it in the castle. If we get caught…well it won't be pretty."

"The room of requirement then?"

She frowned and shook her head, "No, I'd rather not be in the castle at all honestly…but we'll need some living things to practice on. Other than each other."

"So we should bring Malfoy?" Ron supplied.

Arra couldn't help but laugh, "Yeah, right. No, I would say that our best bet is to head out to the forest. We'll be out far enough that no one will see or hear us, and we can maybe catch some rats to practice on our something."

"Sounds good," Harry and Ron agreed as the three of them gathered their bags and headed for Divination.

"The Forest?!" Hermione screeched at Arra, "They call it the _Forbidden Forest _for a reason!"

They were in the girl's dormitory just after dinner. Arra was standing by her bed, gathering supplies and stuffing them into a bag which Hermione had put an extension charm on her for her. She glanced out the window, noticing the sun had just set, meaning that they could head out to the forest shortly.

Arra grabbed her cloak and slung it around her shoulders, "Well you don't have to come then, Hermione."

Hermione stood up quickly, pouting, "Of course I'm coming. I just hope you know how stupid and dangerous this is."

Arra shrugged, "Yes. So?"

Hermione walked over to Arra, keeping her voice low, "We're not going to kill anything, are we?"

Arra playfully shoved her friend a bit, "Jeez Hermione! What do you think I learned when I lived with Bellatrix?!"

Hermione blanched, "Well it's not like I think you're a murderer or anything! I just know that when we first met you, you weren't really the perfect model of an upstanding wizarding citizen, you know?"

Arra raised her eyebrows, "I'm aware of my past, Hermione. I promise we're not going to do anything that will get you sent to Azkaban, okay? Maybe a few sacrifices and raising of the dead, but nothing serious."

Hermione's eyes widened and she made a sound similar to a squeak of fear.

Arra laughed and pushed her a little, "I'm totally messing with you! Come on," she grabbed her bag and headed out the door, "Let's go."

Bounding down the steps they reached the common room, where Ron and Harry were waiting in a nearby corner.

"Hermione," Ron asked, "You're coming with?"

"Yes," Her eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms, "is that a problem, Ronald?"

He raised his eyebrows, "No, just surprised that's all. I would have thought you'd be berating all of us for going out after curfew and messing around with dark magic."

She pointed a finger, "Don't think I won't be. I'm just going to make sure you all don't accidentally kill each other."

Arra leaned over to talk to Harry in hushed tones, "Something tells me we shouldn't have invited Mom and Dad."

"We really can't get away with anything with them around, huh?" He agreed.

"You two," Hermione rounded on them, "come on, let's get this over with," and she led them all through the portrait hole, leaving anger in her wake.

As soon as they were out of sight of anyone and in a deserted corridor, they slung the invisibility cloak over all of them and made their way out of the castle via one of the secret passageways. Once out in the open of the fields surrounding Hogwarts, sure that nobody was around, they took the cloak off and walked freely. Ron and Harry sped up a bit, talking excitedly about what they might learn tonight. Arra and Hermione hung back about ten feet, talking amongst themselves.

"Arra?" Hermione asked, taking Arra's attention off of watching a certain dark haired boy walk in front of her.

"Hmm?"

"I've been meaning to ask you something," she said quietly, setting the tone for the conversation, not wanting to be overheard by the boys.

"Yes?" Arra whispered.

"What ever happened with your feelings for Malfoy?" She said quickly, as if the thought repulsed her. It likely did.

Arra was surprised, "Oh," she said, "well there may or may not have been some sort of return of feelings from him…"

Hermione looked disgusted, "Arra!"

"But it's over now!" Arra assured her quickly, "I realize now what a bloody idiot I was and whatever the hell it was, it's over now."

"You're sure? Because you and Harry looked awfully cozy in the lake last month at the second task," She said accusingly.

Arra smiled fondly at the memory, "Yeah. It was stupid—the whole thing with Malfoy, I mean. It's truly over. No feelings whatsoever. In fact," she supplied happily, "I have stronger feelings for the scum on the bottom of my shoe!"

Hermione laughed, "Okay good. Because I'm not going to lie, it was really hard being your friend knowing that you had romantic feelings for a ferret," she said, smiling.

"Well thankfully," Arra grinned, "my infatuation with rodents is now over. A short lived attraction, but the good folks down at Awkward Attractions Anonymous straightened me out."

At this point, they had entered the forest, trees surrounding them on all sides, concealing them from the outside world.

"Okay," Arra said, loud enough for everyone to hear, and speeding up a bit to cover the ground between them and the boys, "we should look for some sort of a clearing so we can do some spells without trees getting in the way."

"What about things we should hex?" Ron asked.

"Hmm," Arra thought, "why don't you and Hermione go and find some birds or something we can practice on?"

"Are we going to hurt them?" Hermione asked.

"No, we can put a charm on them first so they don't feel pain and then hex them. But if something goes wrong, I would much rather have put permanent antlers on a bird rather than one of you."

"Valid point. Come on Ron, let's go. You two head that way and look for a clearing. Harry can send us a patronus once you've found a good spot." Hermione said, leading Ron into the darkness opposite Harry and Arra.

As soon as the red head and the bushy haired girl were gone, Harry spoke up immediately, "I think I know a spot we can go. It's this way," he said, turning the opposite direction and taking off into the darkness.

They walked a few paces in silence before Arra asked, "Harry, how are you doing?"

He frowned a bit, "Fine. Why?"

She shook her head, "Not like that. I mean, how're you doing with all of _this_?" She gestured to nothing in particular around her, but Harry understood that she was referring to life at this point in time. The tournament in particular.

"Oh," he said, "I'm good."

Arra gave him a shove, "Come on, Scarface. You don't need to be all strong and mighty for me, talk to me."

Harry smirked a bit and kicked a rock in his path, "It's hard. I don't know what to do with these tasks, and we're still no closer to finding out who put my name in the goblet in the first place."

Arra nodded, "Well, the most we can do is be prepared, which we're doing now."

He sighed, "I don't know how much we can do to prepare me for my untimely doom."

Arra stopped walking and grabbed Harry's shoulder in front of her, turning him around to face her, "Don't talk like that."

He shook his head, "I'm sorry, it's just a lot to deal with."

Arra moved her hand from his shoulder up to his cheek, stroking his face gently, trying to pour all of her feelings into a single touch, "I know. But just remember, you're not alone in this. I'll always be with you."

Harry reached up and took her hand from his face, but didn't let it go. Instead, he held it in front of him, entangling his fingers with hers, "I don't want you to get hurt."

Arra paused, taken aback by the sudden emotion in Harry's words. "I-I-I'll be fine," she stuttered, "you don't need to worry about me."

Harry smiled, still playing with her fingers, "I'll always worry about you, Arra."

Arra blushed, "Well then maybe you should just be with me all the time so then you can keep an eye on my troublesome self."

Harry looked up from her hand, staring into her dark eyes, "I don't think I would be opposed to that," he whispered, slowly moving his face closer to hers.

Arra's breath hitched in her throat as Harry began to close the gap between them. In response, her eyes fluttered shut and she inched her lips towards the ones she had been longing to kiss. Without opening her eyes she could tell that Harry was just centimeters away, his sweet breath caressing her face with each exhale…

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH H!"

A blood curdling scream ripped through the silence, piercing the ears of the two young lovers. Both their eyes snapped open as fear replaced their previous lust.

Arra's heart dropped through her stomach as she heard her best friend scream again.

"HEEEEEEEEELP!"

"That's Hermione!" Harry said, grabbing Arra's hand quickly and taking off at a sprint through the forest, leaving their romantic moment behind in the darkness.

**OOOooooOOOOOoooo! Excitement! Review and you shall have cookies! I found girl scout cookies in my freezer so I've been pigging out to the max. It's wonderful!**


	33. Dead Things

**I'M ALIVE! I finally updated! And may I just say, I do not deserve such loyal readers as you. I appreciate you all very much! Enjoy!**

Harry and Arra kept running. Arra's heart felt like it might burst out of her chest from fear. Her muscles screamed at the pain she was putting them through by sprinting nonstop, but she pushed through, not caring about the ache, but only about her friends.

They skidded to a halt in a clearing, their former path suddenly blocked by a fallen tree, "Where are they?!" Arra screamed, clinging to Harry's hand, afraid that if she let him go, he might disappear too.

"Come on! This way!" Harry yelled, charging to the right and towards a shower of sparks he had seen fire out above the tree tops.

He ran with his wand lighting their way in his right hand, his left hand strong in Arra's as they continued through the forest. Arra held her wand aloft in her left hand, a curse ready on her tongue in case someone tried to attack them from behind.

The two of them slowly came to a tip toe as they neared the sight of the sparks and the screaming. Harry removed his hand from Arra's and used his arm to push her behind his own body, "Stay behind me," he muttered.

"Harry—" Arra started.

He whipped his head around to face her, "Arra," he said, his eyes filled with worry, "I need to make sure you're safe."

She frowned a bit, "I can take care of myself," she whispered.

He sighed, "I know you can, but right now I don't care if you can beat Dumbledore at every duel you challenge him too. Just stay behind me, okay? Please?"

She grabbed his hand again and moved her body behind his own, pressing herself against his back. She breathed in deeply, taking in his scent for possibly the last time. Letting her breath out she said, "Okay, let's go."

He started walking again, taking their steps carefully and quietly, waiting to either find Hermione and Ron, or for the attacker to reveal themselves.

"Shh, do you hear that?" Arra asked suddenly, her ears picking up a sound just around the corner. A worried voice muttering and another crying filled her ears.

"Hear what?" Harry whispered.

Arra let go of Harry's hand and sprinted around the corner, her wand ready to attack.

"Arra!" Harry yelled, taking off after her. "What did I just say about—oof!"

Harry had the breath knocked out of him as he ran into a completely halted Arra, in the middle of the clearing.

In front of them was a worried Ron, searching frantically on the ground for something. Sitting in a ball on the ground of the forest floor was a sobbing and scared Hermione. And over to the right of both of them, was a large black lump.

Arra frowned at it and slowly approached it.

"What happened?" Harry asked.

"He attacked us and I lost my wand," Ron muttered, shuffling through the leaves on the ground, "I can't find it now!"

Harry frowned and looked at Hermione for a more elaborate explanation. In response, she opened her mouth to talk, but just sobbed again.

"Will someone tell me what happened?!" Harry asked again, exasperated.

Arra bent down to the large black lump on the ground, examining it. "Harry?" She said, and he came up behind her. Tentatively, she reached out a hand to move the large mass. In response to her small shove, it turned over.

"_Fuck!"_ Arra gasped and jumped back, wiping her hands on her robes.

Staring up at her was a freshly dead body.

"Is that…?" Arra asked.

"Barty Crouch," Harry said, putting his hand on Arra's back. "Are you alright?" He asked her, running his hand up and down her spine in a comforting manner.

She let out a breath, "Yeah, I'm fine."

Without taking his hand off her back, Harry turned to Ron. "What happened?"

Ron stood up shakily, finally stuffing his newly found wand back into his pocket, "we were out here looking for some things to practice hexing when we heard talking. We thought it was you two, so we headed over in that direction. By the time we got there, Crouch was already…well, you know. And I guess the guy who did him in was hanging around. Fired a curse our way, Hermione took him out with a good jinx and he took off running that way," he pointed off in the distance. "We went over to Crouch to see if he was okay…he wasn't."

Harry continued interrogating Ron about the incident. Arra shivered and looked around the forest before heading back over to Crouch's body. She bent down next to him, positioning his head so that he could look in his face. Hermione scooted her way over to her best friend and the body.

"Hermione, you okay?" Arra asked, turning her attention to her friend.

Hermione nodded, sniffing once more, "Yeah, now. Just scared. My first dead body and all," she said quietly.

Arra gave her a quick hug, "Trust me, you're doing better than I did with my first one."

Hermione gasped, "How many have you seen?"

Arra shrugged emotionlessly, "More than I should have. Growing up with the Lestranges, it was a special day when they were able to get in a few good muggle murders after suppertime," she said dryly.

"Arra," Harry said, walking over to the two girls and the body with Ron in tow, "so what was it?"

She averted her attention back to Crouch's body, pulling his face to look at her own, "Killing curse. I'm sure of it."

"You think it was an accident?" Hermione squeaked.

Arra shook her head, "Avada Kedavra's never an accident."

"Who do you think it was?" Ron asked.

Arra shrugged, "Well, obviously someone pretty knowledgeable about the dark arts. Respectable murderers do it the old fashioned way, you know? With a knife, or a trained crocodile or something," Arra muttered, "Not like this. This is bad news."

"My bet is whoever killed Crouch put my name in that Goblet too," Harry said, frowning.

The four friends stood in silence for a moment, gathering their thoughts, and thanking Merlin that they were still alive.

"Well, what do we do now?" Hermione asked.

"What?" Ron asked.

"We've got to go tell a teacher!" Hermione said.

Arra scoffed, "Bloody hell no!"

"But it's a dead body!"

"Exactly! You want to go running up to the castle and tell them that we found a dead body of a member of the Ministry, in the _forbidden_ forest, after curfew, because we were sneaking out at night to go practice cursing each other? No thanks, Dad's done enough jail time for all the Black family members, thank you very much."

"Well Hermione's right, we've got to do something," Ron said.

"Let's go tell Hagrid," Harry offered. "He'll understand why we were out here, and he can just tell Dumbledore that he was out patrolling the forest when he found Crouch."

Harry was right. The four friends made their way over to Hagrid's hut and told him the story of how they came across the body. Hagrid agreed to walk them back to the castle safely, and then go and tell the staff about how he had found the body out during a patrol.

"This is ridiculous," Ron said as they made their way through the hallways leading to the Gryffindor common room. "How many other 4th years have gone through half the shit we've gone through?"

"You could likely count them on one hand…with four of them being us." Arra muttered, wrapping her cloak tighter around her. Though she was used to seeing terrible things from when she lived with Bellatrix, it never really got easier.

"Who do you think it was that killed him?" Harry asked, ever ready to solve a mystery.

Run shrugged, "Dunno."

Hermione shook her head, "For once, let's just let the adults take care of it."

"Ah, what fun is that? We wouldn't be us if we just let things go," Arra said sarcastically—though it was true.

A silence fell over them as they reached the portrait hole. Arra had been staring at her feet for the last few minutes before she finally looked up after Harry said the password.

"Banana fritters," Harry said and the picture swung open. Hermione quickly clambered through, and Ron followed with a look of concern. Arra squinted as she saw something rounding the corner from the portrait hole—a body with a head of platinum blond hair.

Draco poked his head around the corner his face clearly saying, _Leave the scarface and come talk to me._

_Ah, _Arra thought, _better just get this over with_.

"You coming, Arra?" Harry said as he began to enter the common room.

"Um," she said glancing quickly over at Draco to make sure Harry hadn't seen him. "Yeah, in a bit, I just remembered I forgot my potions book in the classroom. And with how upset Hermione is over the body in the woods, you know she'll want to have a group homework session to feel better," she lied as she began to back away towards the hallway where Draco was waiting.

Harry let out a short laugh, "You're probably right, I'll meet you in there, okay?"

Arra nodded fervently, "Yeah, for sure." She turned around and started to leave.

"Wait, Arra?" Harry said.

She turned around, "Yeah?"

"Be careful," he said slowly, concern obvious in his voice, "it's not safe out there."

She smiled softly and walked back towards him reaching out a hand to touch his arm, "Come on Harry, when am I ever not the picture of careful?"

He rolled his eyes at her sarcasm, "I'm serious, Arra."

She pouted, "So am I!" When he didn't fall victim to her attempts at humor, she softened, "Fiiiiiiiiiine! I'll be _super _careful and look both ways before I cross the corridor and not talk to any strange ghosts I meet."

Without warning, he leaned forward and placed his lips on her forehead, "Good," he muttered and pulled back and headed inside the common room.

Arra couldn't help the enormous smile that spread across her face when he kissed her. She watched him walk through the portrait hole and it seemed that everything began to fall into place. He was the one she wanted to be with. He had always been the one—how could she ever be so stupid to think otherwise?

It only made what she was about to do about a million and a half times easier.

She turned around and headed around the corner, and stopped suddenly when Draco appeared in front of her.

She shook her head at him, "What do you want?"

"Arra, we need to talk," Draco said, drawing closer to her.

She shook her head and scoffed, "Go away Draco. It's done."

"Really?! Come on, Arra!" He said loudly, reaching out for her arm.

Before he could grab her arm though, she stepped up closer, right in his face.

"You _don't _get to talk to me! You _don't _get to act like this is my fault! _You're _the one with the insane jealousy problems and abusive tendencies and the fact that you're a complete and total ass!" She yelled and kicked him in the shin on the last word.

He doubled over and grabbed his leg, "I'm _sorry_! I didn't mean to be like that! I just—will you please just listen to me?!" He pleaded.

Arra took a deep breath, stepped a few paces back, "You've got thirty seconds. Start talking."

He sighed, "Thanks, okay…well…"

"29, 28, 27…" Arra chided.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have acted like a jealous prat…the things I said to you, they weren't true. I was just mad."

Arra shook her head, "I don't care how mad you are, the things you said to me…it's not okay. I can't just forgive you for that."

He frowned, "Why not?"

She scoffed again, "What? You think just because you say sorry we can just get back together and kiss and make up and everything will be great and dandy again?"

"Well how else are we supposed to fix this?"

She shook her head with a small smile, "We don't."

Arra turned on her heel, a satisfied look on her face. She only took about three steps before rounding the corner and she felt her heart stop. There, leaning against the wall, looking at her with a shocked face was Harry Potter.

Her jaw fell, "Harry…I-I-Oh my God…"

He shook his head, "You…and Malfoy?"

She felt the tears starting to sting her eyes, "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Yeah. Me too."

**DUN DUN DUN! He knows! Love it? Hate it? Want me to burn in Hell because I never update in time? Let me know in a review!**


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